


Can't Ever Be

by Kalloway



Category: Gundam SEED & Cosmic Era Gundam, Gundam SEED Astray, Gundam SEED VS Astray
Genre: Alternate Ending, M/M, Multi, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-23
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-04-26 18:49:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 40,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5016097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>ND HE has come to 'work' at Morgenroete. Athrun Zala tries to piece together the puzzle that is his new companion.</p><p>A rewrite/reversion/alternate end of VS Astray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Whew - going with the (slightly-awkward, I know) romanization of ND HE's 'nickname' here. I'm admittedly fuzzy on a few details of VS, but I'm under the impression that Chiba was while writing, too. This was basically an exercise in writing a personally satisfying version of VS, though possibly all that came out of it is Athrun being an unreliable narrator.
> 
> The 'Ambiguous/Implied Relationships' tag is for Athrun and relationships he's had and may still be having, depending on how you choose to take his commentary and actions and if you think they're what's really happening or just what he's telling himself.

"Admiral?"

Athrun tried to hold back a sigh as he looked upward. While he did appreciate his position and was trying to do his best in it, Cagalli had given him a life of paperwork. Though in comparison to her seemingly unending piles, he was pretty sure he had somehow still lucked out.

"Mmm?" He nearly forgot to add an 'at ease'.

He would never like people saluting him. But he couldn't exactly tell them not to, either.

The young soldier handed him a printout and stood, waiting.

"Dismissed, thank you," Athrun said before he began reading. Even if he had to respond, urgently, there was no need to make the young man wait.

Truthfully, Athrun expected a dull memo that was only pretending to be exciting. However, it instead was a summons from Erica Simmons. And it had apparently been sent to both him and his secretary. And he'd gotten it from her first, send via soldier just to drive her usual point home that he needed to check his messages more often.

It didn't matter, though - he was saved from reading and commenting on reports on things like laundry soap budgets and how they could save money by switching to all-soy meals and dozens of other things that he didn't think needed to be handled by anyone with 'Admiral' prefixing their name.

Now that Kira had left Orb, Athrun had become Erica's favourite test pilot and assistant mechanic, even though it wasn't exactly in his job description. It didn't matter - he felt far more at home in a half-assembled Murasame knee or an Astray cockpit than in his stuffy, sterile office.

He didn't bother grabbing anything aside from his phone and keys, jamming them into his pockets before shuffling all of his paperwork into one pile to deal with later. With a cursory wave to his secretary, he bolted out of the office and out to the parking lot. His car had survived the years intact, thankfully - even though he could afford to replace it, he was fond of it.

A minute later, he was out of the lot and heading across the base to Erica's part of the complex. For as much as the military and Morgenroete pretended to be independent of one another, there really wasn't any visible division. He just knew when he'd left his side and entered her side.

What Athrun hadn't been expecting was something aside from the usual Murasames and Astrays lined along Morgenroete's main driveway. If his car hadn't auto-corrected for him, he would have ended up in the grass.

He sped up. The sooner he could get a good look at the machine that had caught his eye, the better.

Luckily, once he'd rounded the fence, no one seemed to mind him driving clear up to it.

He didn't even bother turning the car off - he just put it in park and got out and looked up--

It was definitely modeled on the Strike. On the original, not the Dagger variations. He'd known that there were a handful of variants other than the Rouge, but he'd never actually seen any of them. And besides, this one matched a blurry photo he'd been given some months before, when it or similar had been menacing a ZAFT detachment.

Where there should have been faction insignia, however, there were just patches of bare metal where the paint had been scraped clear away. Athrun winced. It would take some work just to make that look good again. Immediately, he started making a mental list of who the best technicians to handle it would be, as if Erica wouldn't already have that covered.

There were always a handful of mobile suits popping up, getting repairs without comment or question. Athrun had assisted on quite a few of them over the years. But this wasn't one of Erica's special Astrays, either.

But before he could be too concerned by the lack of faction symbols, his attention was pulled away by the machine's weaponry. Complimenting beam sabers, a beam rifle and small knives were enormous hip-mounted blades. Athrun could only begin to fathom what they were capable of.

The longer he looked, the more he saw and the more he wanted to climb up and look and then question. It had to be agile, had to just be ridiculously powerful...

He wondered why it was based on a Strike, though, when there were more recent options.

Though he heard a military jeep approaching, Athrun didn't pull his attention away quite yet. Instead, he stayed spellbound, hoping to remember all the things he wanted to ask about or get a closer look at. He wondered what the operating system was like, considering the outside adjustments.

"I'm glad we decided not to wait for you." Erica's voice finally cut through his musings.

"What is..." Athrun cut his question short when he saw the young man flanking Erica. Though he was wearing standard Morgenroete gear - red jacket over a t-shirt and cargo pants - Athrun knew immediately that he was the machine's pilot.

"Gale Strike," the young man said quickly.

"Gale Strike," Athrun repeated. He thought the young man looked familiar but just couldn't place him. Which made him frown momentarily. He turned back to the machine.

"He'll be working with me for a little while," Erica said. "It's been ages since I poked around in a Strike, so I'm excited. Athrun?"

"Mmm?"

"I'd like your help," Erica said. "Hyi has offered full use of data from the Gale Strike, but I think I've scared off half the test team just with the words 'Wing Saw'."

Athrun hesitated as he looked back at Erica, and at 'Hyi', which didn't sound much like a proper name. So those blades were 'Wing Saws'. He could understand why most of Erica's team would be unwilling to risk their wrath.

It had been awhile since he'd done anything aside from pull Infinite Justice from its hangar to make sure it hadn't rusted it in place. Unlike what Kira had done with Freedom, Athrun kept Justice nearby and functional. He looked after it like any pilot would their machine, though the frequency of his visits was admittedly decreasing. Too many reports to read - and no strange activity near the nation in ages...

He nodded.

Hyi managed a smile.

Erica smiled. "And I've been quite rude, haven't I? Athrun, this is Hyi, and Hyi, this is Admiral Athrun Zala. Though he will insist on you referring to him by his given name."

Athrun knew he was blushing. Erica was acting a little too familiar, which wasn't unusual for her, though it was still awkward. But she was a genius, too, and he respected her far more than the usual politicians and career officers that he often found himself dealing with.

Athrun and Hyi stared at each other for a long moment before each offering the other a hand.

"I look forward to working with you," Hyi said softly. Athrun nodded.

"Likewise." So Hyi wasn't shy, just quiet. Or, probably just only spoke when he really had something to say. That was going to get awkward quickly.

"I've already set up a no-fly area for you two," Erica said as she walked back towards the jeep. "Athrun, it's up to you if you want to change, but you will need to move your car."

"Right now?" Athrun was surprised. He wasn't quite sure what he'd expected - not dinner first, he supposed. He nodded. "Right..."

He was back in his car in seconds, speeding towards Justice's hangar. And considering what Erica had said, he wasn't at all surprised that a team had it ready and waiting, hangar doors open wide and initial systems humming happily and waiting for the core to be unlocked. She knew him too well - or knew how to play him.

This time he parked and turned off the ignition, pocketing his keys before heading towards his mobile suit.

Justice had been partially repainted when it had been repaired after the end of the war. It sported Orb's military insignia now, along with a slightly bolder color scheme.

While Athrun was fairly sure that the Gale Strike was designed for atmospheric combat far more than Justice was, he also thought he should be more than a match for the young man. Hopefully, before the end of the day, Erica would tell him a little more about the mobile suit and pilot, just to alleviate the nagging feeling that he should know them both.

Once in the cockpit, everything felt natural. No need for launching or timing. Once everything was clear, he simply walked. It felt good. This wasn't war. This was just a machine needing to do something.

No sooner had he gotten out of the hangar then a stream of commands and parameters appeared on his screen. Coordinates. They had been allotted a large area, which was good. Land and sea.

"Athrun, are you there?"

Erica's voice was clear on the open channel.

"I'm here," he replied.

"Hyi?"

"Ready," Hyi replied, equally clear. "I've received all of the instructions."

"Nothing that won't take more than five hours to fix," Erica said flatly. "Other than that, keep it friendly. You're both very important to me."

"Understood."

"Understood."

Athrun wasn't much of a fan of this kind of combat, ordinarily. Not outside of Morgenroete's combat dome, though Athrun knew why they weren't in it. It was far too small. And wouldn't offer anywhere near the sort of data Erica wanted. She wanted to see the Gale Strike move. There was something about it that pinged her interest as strongly as it did his.

There was little surprise to learning that his assumption of about the Gale Strike's speed had been correct. Athrun hung back, mostly watching it. He couldn't help thinking about fighting Kira in the original Strike. But this machine barely resembled that. Instead, it was its own beast of a machine. It had been made for a purpose and Athrun knew it had nothing to do with Orb. But now was not the time to ask. Not yet.

They both landed on a leveled stretch of beach that was centered within their coordinates. Hyi pulled a beam saber from one shoulder.

"Ready?"

"Yes," Athrun replied, grabbing for one of his own sabers. They'd start slow and wait for Erica to guide them, at least at first. He was sure she was receiving monitor feeds from both of them.

They both stood, beams crackling, for a moment before Hyi rushed forward. He was fast, even on land, and Athrun had to take a step back to meet his thrust and parry. But he quickly turned it around - Hyi was good but he was lacking that certain something. Athrun was sure he had more actual combat experience. With a couple more swings, Athrun had managed to push Hyi back a bit, towards the water. As much as Athrun wanted to kick out and flatten Hyi, he wasn't going to do more than this -- yet.

"Good," Erica's voice crackled over the channel. "Responses are good. But... you're both really hesitating, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Mmm..."

Athrun heard Erica sigh. "You're both underestimating one another," she said flatly. "I meant what I said that you're both free to do what you'd like as long as I don't have to rewrite my entire annual budget to make repairs."

Athrun managed a faint chuckle. He knew Erica had needed to do just that when he'd returned to Orb. Justice would still be in pieces otherwise. But he couldn't help that it used completely different technology than the rest of the Orb fleet. Sure, she'd gleaned a bit from Freedom, but Kira had mostly been ridiculously possessive of the machine and refused to share so Erica had needed to reverse-engineer as she went.

Not that Athrun could really blame Kira.

It wasn't until Hyi grabbed for one of the Gale Strike's Wing Saws did Athrun realize exactly what the mobile suit made him think of. And who. But he held his tongue, mostly because he was too busy trying to block Hyi's swing. It should have been obvious, really - he'd even considered this machine against Erica's beloved Astrays. This was related, definitely, as was the pilot. But how...? And why?

It didn't seem polite to ask any of those questions just yet. Not when he was finally needing to kick and send the Gale Strike sailing. It righted mid-fall and rushed back. Athrun smiled. He could amp things up a notch or two. Excellent. Aside from Cagalli, who was only darned good at best, Orb was lacking in exceptionally skilled pilots, and part of Cagalli's skill tended to be the benefit of having better machines. Besides, it wasn't as if... well, it wasn't as if they ever did anything together anymore. Even as hesitant, awkward friends. Certainly, they didn't run around smashing metal together.

He was fairly sure that he'd always love her, but... He wasn't going to go back on what he'd said. Not after all of that...

With a bit of an idea as to how the Gale Strike would move, Athrun found it easier and easier to dodge. They were both relying too heavily on the gimmicks of their machines and Athrun knew it. Perhaps if they were both in GINNs, with just heavy swords, their fight would be far more interesting.

Yes, Athrun was definitely relying on Justice's own superior range of motion and slightly larger size. He had far more weight behind his movements and had a powerplant that would never quit. But every time he knocked Hyi back, Hyi rushed forward again.

Athrun had to give him credit.

"Boys... how are you doing?"

It took Erica's voice to, again, pull Athrun from the intense focus he'd fallen into.

"Fine," he said quickly.

"Nearly out of power," Hyi admitted.

"That's okay," Erica answered. "Head on back, both of you. I don't have everything that I want, but it's a start."

Athrun powered down everything aside from his main systems and relaxed.

"You're good," he said, before clapping one of Justice's hands onto the Gale Strike's closer shoulder. It was something he'd often done with Kira. Though he hadn't quite realized he was doing it til he heard the sound of metal hitting metal.

"Ah--" Hyi seemed surprised and Athrun immediately wished he hadn't acted so familiar. "So are you."

Quickly, Athrun pulled away and started back to the hangar. Hyi followed, and Athrun was surprised for a moment before realizing the obvious - the machine would need to go somewhere and his own hangar was definitely the safest and farthest away from curious eyes. And it's not like it was actually his, after all. Though he did have his own reserved parking spot.

Mechanics surrounded them the second they were in, waving and gesturing. Athrun settled Justice into its usual position and locked its powerplant before opening the cockpit. There'd still be enough power for the mechanics to do what they'd need to do, but nothing hazardous. In an emergency, there were others who knew the password, but... Athrun didn't want to think about that.

Hyi seemed a little shaken, when he emerged. Athrun hoped it was just the sheer amount of mechanics offering to poke, repaint, repair and otherwise touch his mobile suit. If he was used to doing all his own repairs, well...

"Come on," Athrun said, gesturing towards his car. "I'm sure Erica has all sorts of things she'll want to ask us about."

"But..." Hyi gestured at the Gale Strike in return.

"It's okay," Athrun promised. "These are all good people."

Hesitating, Hyi finally nodded and followed Athrun to the car.

Athrun waved to the mechanics before easing them away from the hangar and across the maze of runways to get back to the main road. Hyi seemed less fond of the car than Athrun would have thought. His driving wasn't bad, after all. And the car itself usually got a comment or two. Though depending on exactly where Hyi was raised...

"You're not really used to cars, or Earth...?" Athrun questioned.

Hyi's eyes went wide for a moment. He shook his head, and for a second, Athrun thought he might be blushing.

Athrun shrugged. "It'll get easier. Just wait til the first time it rains or you go swimming in the ocean. That's all different too."

Hyi was quiet, instead just looking out at everything around them.

"Thanks," he muttered as they pulled onto the main road.

"You're staying for awhile, though..." Athrun really wanted to ask about those scraped-off faction markings. And about other things.

"Yes," Hyi replied. He seemed to be half-lost in thought as well.

"I'd like to look at your mobile suit on another day," Athrun said just before parking. "I was familiar with the original Strike..."

"Really?" Hyi seemed surprised. Athrun nodded. Apparently there was someone out there who didn't know who he was. It was refreshing and Athrun was happily amused. It was far better than being fawned over. The worst had been a group of younger Orb girls who had printed out scans of a photobook that had been put out when he'd been originally engaged to Lacus. Most embarrassing thing ever. And they'd wanted autographs and it was all just...

"You were with OMNI back then?" Hyi questioned as he quickly undid his seatbelt and got out of the car.

Athrun blinked. "Not quite," he replied. He was obviously going to have to give Hyi a brief history lesson in the elevator. If Hyi had been born either on a ship or one of the smaller L4 colonies, he might've somehow missed everything aside from the basics of the war. It just seemed odd. Especially for a Coordinator. And one who had to be associated with Serpent Tail somehow.

He'd have to have a private chat with Erica as well. She always had secrets, but this one... It seemed very different.

"There were five machines," Athrun began as he led Hyi into the building. He didn't even bother with his military ID - the security guards knew him and he just waved to them that Hyi was fine.

Hyi simply stared as Athrun explained everything he could in as short a time as possible. It was strange what Hyi seemed to recognize compared to what he didn't seem to know about. Despite being about the same age, Hyi just wasn't very familiar with the recent past at all.

Briefly, Athrun thought of Lodonia and shivered. He was thankful for the soft ding of the elevator and Erica meeting them in the hallway.

"That was wonderful, both of you," she said with a smile. She had a pouch of juice in hand for each of them and Athrun took his quickly. She was always good about that sort of thing... Athrun thought it might be because she was a mother in so many ways. He knew Erica's son, and also Erica's mobile suits and Erica's AI computers, the latter of which could run circles around anything he built.

And she reminded him a bit of his own mother, but Athrun would never tell her that.

Hyi hesitated longer, until Erica gave him a little look. And then he took it and drank.

"I'd like to know what we were testing," Athrun admitted. "Machine, pilot or both."

Erica smiled. "Mostly the machine," she replied. "Come on. I'll show you what I have so far."

"Mostly?" Hyi echoed quietly, following behind Athrun as they walked to Erica's development rooms.

~*~

Hours later, while he and Erica were still pouring over the data and comparing it to everything they could dig up, including Kira's original tests with the Strike for Morgenroete, everything remaining on Strike Rouge, and then Mwu's rebuilt Strike, Athrun glanced over towards a very-quiet Hyi and realized the young man had fallen asleep.

"Erica?"

"Mmm?" She obviously hadn't realized how late it was. Hopefully she hadn't needed to get home for dinner.

Athrun gestured to Hyi, and then to the windows, where it was very obviously getting dark.

Erica glanced and then started softly giggling. "Okay, I guess we should call it a day. I didn't mean to bore him to sleep..."

"Where's he staying?" Athrun questioned. "I'll drive him home and make sure he gets something to eat."

Erica told him a hotel, which had rooms permanently reserved for Morgenroete, before walking over and crouching.

"Hyi..." She reached carefully to touch his cheek.

Hyi flailed for a second, but Erica caught his hands.

"You fell asleep," she explained quickly. "Athrun will take you back to your hotel, though. And probably grab something to eat for you along the way."

Nodding, Hyi mumbled a string of apologies and got to his feet.

"Go ahead," Erica said as she stood. "I'll get everything turned off here and then head home myself."

Athrun nodded and beckoned to Hyi. He knew Erica would keep working all night. He would have, too, except that Hyi was obviously as important as his machine and Erica was putting him in charge of Hyi's well-being for the moment.

"What do you like?" Athrun asked as they got back in the elevator.

"Hmm?"

"To eat," Athrun continued. "Erica told me where you're staying and there's pretty much everything between here and there. So if you have any preferences..."

Hyi shook his head quickly. "Not really. Anything fresh, I guess."

Smiling, Athrun debated between a handful of places before deciding on a smaller family diner with a simple menu. Homecooked food, always tasty, and while possibly not as fresh as sushi or the vegan place, probably more what Hyi was after.

"I know just the place," Athrun replied as they made their way through the lobby.

"You like living here?" Hyi questioned once they were past the guards.

Athrun looked at him quizically. "I guess... I mean, I don't want to go back to the PLANTs and there are things I can do here."

"I..." Hyi trailed off, instead looking up at the sky.

"You don't have to decide what you want to do right away," Athrun commented. Hyi was obviously at some sort of crossroads. His strange cross-section of knowledge and the insignia-free machine were proof of that.

And Athrun knew very well what it was like to be stuck with a feeling of floating and not knowing what to do. But if Orb wasn't the place for Hyi, well, Athrun didn't want to encourage him to stay. Nothing good would come of that in the end.

Of course, most of Athrun's questions would be ones to ask Erica. He was sure she'd be there late, so he just had to get Hyi back to his hotel room and then...

"Thanks," Hyi said softly.

Athrun unlocked the car doors and got in. He'd drive a little slower on the way into town, in case the darkness unsettled Hyi more.

Hyi slid in a moment after.

"You're welcome," Athrun replied. He smiled. "This is a nice break from paperwork, I have to admit."

"Would you rather be a pilot full time?" Hyi questioned. Athrun started the car and backed out of the spot he was in. The lot was nearly empty now.

"No," Athrun replied. "Not if it meant war, at least. I suppose if it was for civilian projects, it would be okay, but... Justice isn't really made for that."

"Justice is made for wars," Hyi stated. Athrun cut across the lot on the way to the exit. No sense in staying within the lines. Hyi flinched.

"Yes," Athrun admitted. "I suppose that's really all there is to it."

He sighed. And Hyi stayed quiet til they arrived at the restaurant.

The problem with small, family diners was that they were small, family diners. And Athrun was, of course, still in his full uniform. Never mind that he frequented the place and all the waitresses knew his name.

And knew that he very rarely brought anyone to dinner.

By the time they slid into a booth, every waitress in the place had slipped by them, looking Hyi over curiously.

"They're just friendly," Athrun said apologetically as he grabbed the menus from behind the napkin holder and ketchup. "The food is really good, though."

"It's okay," Hyi replied. "You're obviously more famous here than I realized."

Athrun sighed. "That too."

He didn't know why he was looking at the menu. He knew what he wanted. But since Hyi was studying it all quite intently, well, he didn't want to make Hyi any more uncomfortable than he already was.

And then he had another thought.

"Order whatever you want," Athrun added. "My treat."

"Are you sure?" Hyi questioned. "I don't want to be any more of a burden."

Shaking his head, Athrun simply set his menu down. "I'm sure."

What he didn't say was that one of the cards in his wallet had Morgenroete's name embossed beneath his own. Erica's doing, for other late night projects that had required trips to any given 24-hour convenience store necessary.

They ate in relative silence, each watching the other and hesitating again and again. Athrun supposed that it was just how they were going to be for now, before wondering if he should even plan on getting to know the young man. This had just been a quick favor, unless Erica was going to be pulling some strings and getting a temporary reassignment for him. But she'd not mentioned anything like that, so...

The most troubling thing about Hyi was that he felt so familiar. But Athrun knew Serpent Tail, which had been his first thought. It wasn't a group that people just came and went from. No, it was a tight-knit unit that moved as one. If Hyi had ever been a member, Athrun would have seen him before. He'd assisted with fixing their machines often enough, after all, at Erica's request, because she wanted to show off her original Astrays and the Serpent Tail's Blue Frame was amongst them.

Yet the Gale Strike's paint was eerily similar, and the giant swords certainly made Athrun stick on the thought. Perhaps it was an homage.

Hyi's hair was about right for their leader, too. Hyi's was shorter, but getting shaggy. Still... Hyi's eyes...

Which were staring right at him, clear and piercing blue.

"Is something...?" Hyi began.

"Everything tasty?" Athrun managed. Hyi had ordered what was far too much food, but Athrun didn't mind and he figured it'd be breakfast for him as well, and possibly lunch.

Hyi nodded. "Didn't think they'd give me so much. It's okay to take some with me, right?"

Nodding, Athrun couldn't help a smile. There were no doggy-bags on small spacecraft, after all.

"Our waitress will even box it up for you with extra bread if you ask nicely," Athrun added.

Three boxes and one bag later, Hyi had his hands full and Athrun was easing the car back onto the road.

"Is there anything else you need tonight?" Athrun questioned. It was the polite thing to do, after all, considering that Hyi was living in a hotel room. At least it was a nice enough place that a fridge, microwave and coffee maker were standard. And also a data-console that would hopefully connect well enough for Hyi to do some basic research on the first war. If not, Athrun knew he had books. Not on purpose, but because they'd been sent to him.

Of course, he didn't have it anywhere near as bad as Cagalli. Or Lacus.

"No," Hyi replied. "I think I have everything."

"Okay--" Athrun wasn't terribly sure if he believed Hyi, but was going to let it go. Depending, Hyi was probably used to making do with whatever. Especially if he'd been... away from his home for awhile.

Athrun was grumbling under his breath by the time he pulled into the hotel's parking garage. At the last traffic light of many, Hyi seemed to be dozing off again and Athrun knew he'd feel horrible if he didn't get Hyi to his room safely.

Hyi only really perked up when the car stopped.

"I'll carry your food up," Athrun said firmly. The car was off and he was already getting out.

"You don't have to..."

But Hyi didn't resist, despite frowning like he wanted to.

"Once you're in your room, I'll get going," Athrun commented.

Nodding, Hyi handed the bag of leftovers to Athrun and proceeded to dig for his keycard.

Athrun's uniform got him right past the desk-clerk, security guard and a baggage attendant without question. The attendant actually saluted, and Athrun echoed it after realizing the man probably was enlisted.

Hyi looked even more drowsy in the elevator and Athrun wondered when the last time he had gotten a decent night's sleep.

"When did you get in?" Athrun questioned as Hyi fumbled with his keycard.

"Last night," Hyi replied. "Haven't really slept yet."

Athrun sighed. "That's what I was afraid of."


	2. Two

The sun streaming in through the window was what drew Athrun from his slumber. He squinted, wondering why his neck hurt. And why the sun was streaming in his window, because his bedroom absolutely did not have an eastern exposure.

Shifting, he realized he was on a sofa and... he could hear the soft breathing of someone else across the room. At least he hadn't done anything too stupid if he was still dressed and on a sofa, but...

And then he remembered Hyi and the night before. Getting Hyi and getting his food put away and some conversation that had mostly involved Hyi falling asleep, and... well, he'd been afraid of waking Hyi up, so he'd decided to just relax for a few minutes...

There was, now, absolutely no right way to get out of Hyi's hotel room without something awkward happening. Just leaving wouldn't be good, and hanging around wouldn't be good, either.

And then when he was thinking that maybe he could just sneak out and return with breakfast... His phone rang.

Athrun groaned before moving to answer it. Perhaps if he feigned like he'd just woken up -- no, still awkward but it could be worse...

Glancing at the caller ID, it was Erica. If she hadn't just napped at her desk, Athrun would be surprised. He also wasn't terribly pleased with her, if only because this time around, her timing really stunk.

Hyi was the one who jumped at the sound of the phone, wide-eyed and surprised. Probably wasn't used to those, either. Without answering, Athrun just held the phone and stared at Hyi while Hyi stared at him.

Luckily, Hyi had missed grabbing his gun and was instead pointing the hotel television's remote control at him. Athrun exhaled and let the phone go to voicemail.

"Morning..." he said with the best smile he could muster. Hyi lowered the remote and frowned.

"Morning."

They looked at each other for a long moment. And finally both laughed. It was a good start.

Athrun's phone beeped that indeed, he had a message. But it was early - Erica could wait.

"I guess I fell asleep when we were talking," Athrun said. It was pretty much the truth - close enough to count.

"About what?" Hyi asked, glancing down at the bedspread. "I don't really remember even getting back here. But... I slept..."

Athun chuckled. "You were nodding off in the car," he explained. "And in the elevator. I would have been remiss not to see you in properly."

"Thanks..." Hyi crawled from the bed and stretched. "I suppose we need to go back and see Erica again?"

"No," Athrun replied. "Well, maybe you do. But I need to go home and take a shower and find a uniform that I didn't just sleep in. And then probably make up an excuse for where I was all morning and spend the afternoon reading reports more boring than anything you've ever imagined."

Hyi smiled. "That doesn't sound bad," he admitted. "It's something to do, right? Every day..."

"Not every day," Athrun replied. "I get weekends, most of the time."

Not that he ever did much with them. Sometimes he worked on little mechanical critters and sometimes he had lunch with Kira's mother. Mostly he read or caught up on messages left for him during the week.

Nodding, Hyi headed towards the bathroom and then paused. "So..."

Athrun got up and stretched, nodding as well. "I'm sure Erica will summon me over for another round of combat."

"Okay."

"You've got a ton of food in the fridge," Athrun reminded him. He headed to the door and opened it.

"Um..."

"You really don't need to keep a loaded gun around here," Athrun added. "Later..."

Hyi still seemed stuck for words, which was okay. Athrun was down the hallway already, kicking himself for just not knowing what to say at all.

But until he knew exactly what Hyi's story was... well, things were just going to be that much more complicated and that was all there was too it.

Luckily, traffic was light and Athrun was home in minutes, ignoring another round of phone calls and voicemails.

Once he'd showered and pulled on a pair of dress pants and polo shirt, he took the time to listen to them all and see what was going on.

The first was Erica, asking to speak with him whenever possible. And Erica again, telling him not to rush because she had some plans for the morning. And then his secretary, asking if he had a meeting not marked in his planner.

Perfect, he thought to himself. That was exactly it. Same as the evening before. And no one would bother checking up on him.

His sofa was far more comfortable than the hotel one, and once he sat to start returning calls, he thought he might like to spend more time there. It was a white lie, really -- he'd spent the entire evening working. He could rest a little... He let his secretary know that he'd had a last minute meeting off-base that was going to last all day and then, whether she believed him or not, hung up and dialed Erica.

At first he thought he was going to get her voice mail, but after a good dozen rings, she answered.

"You're late," she mumbled. She'd definitely been asleep, probably in the break room.

"Late?" Athrun questioned.

"I thought you'd call about fifteen minutes ago," she replied. "Was using you as an alarm clock."

Athrun chuckled. "You don't know me quite that well, I hope."

"I can take a guess as to why you called," Erica said, her tone a bit more lively. "Though... I was expecting you to be back last night. I had to work twice as hard."

"I... well..." No sense in lying to Erica - Hyi would probably tell her the truth and then he'd just look silly. "Hyi was really nodding off on the way to the hotel so I made sure he got inside safely and I guess we were chatting and..."

"Do I want to know how this ends?" Erica interrupted, a strange little quirk in her voice.

"Across the room, fully-clothed," Athrun replied flatly. Of all the things he hadn't thought about, that was near the top of the list.

"Probably safer," Erica commented. Athrun raised an eyebrow before remembering that they were on an audio-only line.

"So who is he?" Athrun questioned. "Serpent Tail, right?"

"Not quite," Erica corrected. Athrun could tell that she was smiling. "Good job, though. I was actually debating if you'd figure it out or not."

"Between that machine and... well, mostly that machine..." Athrun tried to sort out his myriad of other thoughts, but they were a jumble. Hyi's strange socialization, his lack of recent history, his mannerisms, his skill with a machine that should be outdated but was re-purposed into something that seemed either a homage or copy of Serpent Tail's Astray...

"For now, it's safest to say he's related to Serpent Tail," Erica said. "But you know how they work and that I can't say too much more just yet. However, Hyi isn't a mercenary and he's not a threat to anyone here."

"He tried to pull a gun on me," Athrun said flatly. "Luckily, he grabbed the remote instead."

There was a long pause, and then Erica burst out laughing so loudly that Athrun had to hold the phone away.

"What?" he asked. "It's not that funny..."

"It is," Erica replied, managing to choke down her giggles long enough to speak. "I'll have to pass that along..."

"Are you babysitting him?" Athrun questioned. "Because..."

"I think we're babysitting him," Erica interrupted again. "If you're up to it. It's a break from paperwork and a lot of tinkering with mobile suits, but Hyi has offered up the Gale Strike for research and honestly, it's a wonderful opportunity."

"You'll tell me more, right?"

"Eventually," Erica said. "But... just trust me when I say that there's nothing dangerous about what you don't know about him. He's just a normal guy who needs a little direction."

"If you say so," Athrun replied. He shook his head. Again, he was on the phone... He should have pulled Erica up on video, but she was the one blocking it. She probably looked about like he felt.

"I'll let you both rest today," Erica continued. "You are in, right? I'll file all the paperwork to borrow you..." Athrun heard her yawn. "...after some coffee."

"I'm in," Athrun confirmed. He was both apprehensive and curious. But it was better to know, he thought. It wasn't as if anything could really surprise him. Not after Kira and Cagalli - not after Rey...

"Excellent." There was a pause. "G'nite, Athrun."

Athrun frowned. But he had to agree. "Night."

He disconnected the phone and stuck it on the back of the sofa. Sleep sounded really good. And he rather hoped that Hyi was taking the afternoon to do the same.

It was actually two days later - Friday - before Athrun saw Hyi again. Mostly, it was because Athrun had been dragged away almost immediately to get himself knee-deep in the ankle hydraulics of a Murasame. Erica hadn't protested, which surprised everyone. But, Athrun realized later, it was a good move. Working on an actual machine got him into the right mindset. Yes, the more he thought about the parts he was working on, the more he could relate to the adjustments to the Strike frame that made the Gale Strike into the Gale Strike.

By the time he made his way out to see the machine - via jeep and not via his own car - all of the damage from their little spar had been fixed and the scraped metal had been filled and painted. The machine was now a blank slate, waiting for a purpose beyond being examined and tested.

Athrun circled around it as best he could, examining every part he could see from the ground before snagging a lift. Feet, ankles, calves... It felt unnatural to think of a mobile suit as having things like manipulators - they were hands and nothing would change that for him.

Possibly from all the times with Kira... Hands. They expressed so many things to each other, each unconsciously using their machines to emote. And it had worked...

Athrun stared long and hard at the Gale Strike. Could it emote too? Could there be something more to it than a machine made to destroy?

It would depend far more on the pilot than the machine, though...

He'd scrambled up to examine the hydraulics of the ankles of the Gale Strike when he realized he was being watched.

Cool blue eyes were looking quite nearly through him from down on the floor of the hangar.

Athrun jumped down, unable to hold in a smile. "Hey... I just..."

Sometimes, hydraulics and circuit relays and programming weren't at all interesting to whomever he was speaking to. Kira had taught him that, too.

"I'm starting to see where the agility comes from," Athrun managed. "I never really got a chance to look at the original Strike and Cagalli's machine was always kept tucked away."

"She had a Strike as well," Hyi said, staring at Athrun as if asking for confirmation.

"Yes," Athrun said after a moment. "Strike Rouge. But it was destroyed in the second war. And not by Cagalli..."

"I'm still reading about the first war," Hyi admitted. "It's an honor to have met so many important figures..."

"I wouldn't say..."

"I didn't realize that I was sent to Erica because she created the Astrays," Hyi said. He was frowning again, which Athrun didn't think was a good look for him. He looked far better when smiling or at least somewhat amused.

"Why did you think you were here?" Athrun asked. They were both in mechanics's jumpsuits this time around. That made things far more comfortable than when he'd been stuck in his uniform.

"I was told that this would be a good place to stop and think and decide," Hyi replied. "But..."

"It is," Athrun replied. "You just have to make sure you know all the questions first."

"Huh?" Hyi stared at him for a long moment as Athrun looked for the words...

"Personal experience," Athrun said, finally. "Hey... I'm really not that interesting, but I'm curious about the modifications on the knees... Do you know the reason for that, or was it something done by..."

He trailed off. "Who made these machines, anyway? Aktaeon?"

"No," Hyi replied. "A different group, using stolen data. Maybe something... wasn't right with it?"

Hyi had a strange look on his face and Athrun wanted to ask, but there was a bit of a commotion outside that distracted them both.

It sounded a bit like a plane, but Athrun thought it was a mobile suit. A Murasame, perhaps? But they'd already finished repairing the broken one and had tucked it away. And nothing was scheduled for the afternoon...

Athrun gestured for Hyi to follow him out of the hangar.

And then Athrun saw it - a Saviour. He'd been told, some time later, that there'd been a second unit, but it had been stolen. But also that it had been found.

This, Athrun could tell, was not that machine. Not by a long shot. No, this was that other Saviour, the one that had skimmed over Orb and sent over the strangest set of IFF codes that Athrun had ever been handed.

And then it had vanished.

That was months past and this...

Either the machine was damaged or the pilot had changed, Athrun wasn't sure which. But something was definitely wrong with it. On descent, it wobbled with the transformation and very nearly blew the landing entirely. It was graceless and Athrun raced over to it to see what was wrong.

Hyi was close behind him.

And then Athrun froze completely. The Saviour had a good share of bumps and dents covering it, but the real shocker were beautifully rendered Serpent Tail symbols dotting it.

"Serpent Tail?" Athrun asked under his breath.

"Elijah!" Hyi waved as the cockpit opened.

Sure enough, it was Serpent Tail's second pilot. Athrun nearly winced. He'd spent plenty of evenings patching up Elijah's Zaku and now... he'd gotten his hands on a Saviour.

Elijah descended quickly and looked Hyi over before giving Athrun a familiar wave. There was no chance that the mercenary didn't know who he was, but it was easier to keep things simple.

"I got a message that someone spotted my Zaku down here," he said quickly, looking straight at Hyi. "Has Erica said anything...?"

"No," Hyi replied.

"Your Zaku?" Athrun questioned.

"Yeah... it was stolen," Elijah said with a little wince. "The pilot of this..." He gestured back to the Saviour. "Well, he tricked me out of the cockpit and stole it."

Athrun just stared. What sort of idiot would ever do something that incredibly stupid? The Saviour was a superior machine and Elijah's Zaku had... a strange paint scheme.

"I haven't heard anything," Hyi said. "Maybe it wasn't Erica."

"Reed just said Morgenroete," Elijah replied. He sighed. "I guess I should check with Erica anyway to be sure... And if a job comes up, I can't stay."

Elijah and Hyi looked at each other for a long awkward moment.

Athrun watched them for a moment longer, unsure, before turning his attention to the Saviour. Like the Gale Strike, it had been heavily modified. And really, Athrun wasn't sure that he liked the changes. Instead of the functionality that the Gale Strike seemed to have, it was more like the changes to the Saviour were done simply to change things. Athrun didn't like it. He wondered if that was part of the reasoning for the poor handling. Possibly also the operating system.

"What's it called?" Athrun questioned, finally tearing his attention away from unnecessary wing modifications.

"Vent Saviour," Elijah replied. "I... I'm using it until..."

"It's his," Hyi said flatly.

Athrun watched them. More awkwardness. It would be almost comical anywhere else, but the tension here, in the shadow of a hulking machine, was closer to painful.

"It's mine," Elijah said after a moment. "But I probably shouldn't leave it here. But I locked on to the Gale Strike and thought..."

"It's just in the hangar," Hyi said. "I've only been here for a few days."

"Oh. Then I don't need to check up on you..."

"You were sent to check up on me?" Hyi questioned.

"No," Elijah replied quickly. "I... just thought I should. But you've already met Ath-- the Admiral, so..."

"Yes, we met almost immediately," Hyi said. "And if your Zaku registered somewhere in this country, we should all go looking for it."

"Just to see..." Elijah said almost too softly.

Well, Athrun realized as he watched them. He definitely saw it now. He'd seen enough of Elijah's interactions with his leader to mistake anything. This had to be a Murakumo - younger, and wow, he had to have popped in just about from nowhere.

After Kira and Cagalli, he paid more attention to these things. And the features were all there, so...

The implications, however, were concerning.

"Let's go," Hyi said. He gestured to Athrun. "You can get Justice up, right?"

"Of course," Athrun replied. He wasn't entirely sure what-- Oh, he was an Admiral, so he could probably just declare this all okay and just deal with the ramifications later. If Erica hadn't already pulled the necessary strings. Often, Athrun got the notion that she was secretly the head of everything aside from the country proper. And some days...

"Good," Hyi commented. "And you're familiar with Elijah?"

"We've met a few times," Elijah interjected. "Though..."

"It's okay," Athrun said quickly. "We were just out here looking at the Gale Strike. And I can authorize our clearance for a quick search."

"Thank you." Elijah almost smiled. He had the same fine features that Athrun had seem on countless young Coordinator men, but Elijah's were amplified somehow. If he hadn't known that Elijah was his age, and very definitely male, Athrun thought he might mistake him for a younger woman. Despite the scars that marred Elijah's pale skin.

It was probably best that along with his beauty, Elijah radiated a certain vibration that also declared him very off-limits. Though it hadn't stopped a couple of mechanics in the past. Elijah had punched one of them.

Both Athrun and Hyi were in their machines quickly. Gale Strike was nearly out of the hangar before Athrun got everything unlocked, but he didn't mind. He'd catch up. He was also beginning the first round of communications for what they were doing.

He made some of it up.

"I need the coordinates," he called on the open channel. Hopefully Elijah would pick it up.

"Sending, then switch to the specified channel..."

"You think the thief is monitoring?" Athrun asked. He quickly input everything and finished his own portion of the mission. They were clear to go fly over the area specified. It was uninhabited - too rocky, and likely the perfect spot to hide a mobile suit. Though if the Zaku was damaged, it might just be abandoned there, sans pilot.

"Yes," Elijah replied. "He's.... he was..."

"Elijah..." Hyi trailed off, though.

"Well, I just want to find him," Elijah said quickly.

"Let's go," Athrun said, firing his thrusters. He was up into the air quickly, and switched configurations so that he could ride along on his backpack. He wished he'd offered to just take the Saviour - Vent Saviour - so that he didn't have to watch Elijah suffer through it. He'd definitely have to offer some training.

It wasn't unheard of amongst Coordinators - one trait accidentally traded off for another. But Elijah's beauty apparently undid everything else like coordination and speed.

Yet he was a skilled mercenary. It would surprise quite a few people that Athrun knew. Not that he was going to be writing home any time soon.

The less he thought about the PLANTs, the better. Really, the only things up there were a few people, who could visit, and the graves of so many people that he'd loved.

Flying over rocky and desolate beaches, Athrun wondered about the Zaku thief. Obviously there was something in the mix that Elijah wasn't telling him. Hyi probably knew.

There was no point in trying to keep up with the Vent Saviour - in plane mode it had him completely outclassed. So by the time he, and Hyi, arrived to the location pinpointed, Elijah had already landed just outside an isolated copse of trees and was rushing towards the remains of his former machine.

Setting Justice down just beside the Vent Saviour, Athrun scrambled from his cockpit in time to see Elijah crawl up into the Zaku's cockpit.

And heard him yell...

"Veia!"

Looking around, Elijah cried the name again before slipping down all the way.

Athrun was there a moment later, with Hyi on his heels.

There was no sign of another pilot, but Elijah was trying everything he could to get the machine to move.

Nothing.

"May I?" Athrun asked, leaning down and offering a hand to get Elijah back out. The machine had been left in a reclining position, but not totally flat.

"Sure..." Elijah said after a moment. "I just thought... even if he wasn't here... he would have left a note for me..."

Athrun blinked as Elijah took his hand. It looked rather like the mercenary was going to cry.

Sliding down into the cockpit once Elijah was up with Hyi, Athrun managed to get one panel on to try to start diagnostics and see where the power failure was, but he couldn't even get that far. The one panel he'd gotten flickered and something underneath sparked.

He sighed.

"No good," he said as he scrambled up to sit with his feet dangling down and in. "Want to take it back and see what we can do with it in a hangar?"

"But what if he..." Elijah shook his head.

"It won't help him like this," Hyi said flatly. "We'll take it back."

In the back of his head, Athrun finally recognized the name 'Veia'. A great ZAFT hero, killed in a grand battle... His father had always spoken highly of the young pilot - told Athrun to aspire to that level of skill..."

Veia had always had red mobile suits...

Athrun looked down at the grey and red machine he was sitting on, and then to the Vent Saviour. If it was the same Veia, somehow, then yes, the Vent Saviour was the wrong machine for him. Obviously...

"Where is he?" Elijah questioned, looking at Hyi almost accusingly.

"I don't know," Hyi replied. "If I knew, I'd tell you."

Elijah nodded after a moment and glanced around the clearing again.

"He's probably long gone," Athrun finally said. "The last thing that would have been working is the homing signal that was picked up and even that's dead now."

"Maybe he left you a message that you just can't see yet," Hyi commented.

Athrun looked at him for a long moment before nodding.

"Let's get back," he said as he swung his legs over and began to climb down. "I can use a few of my own sources to look for him too."

"But..."

"I know what he looks like," Athrun said softly. "Our age, grey-blue hair... probably still a bit on the small side."

He couldn't help thinking of Nicol...

"Yeah," Elijah said softly. "You knew him too?"

Athrun shook his head once he'd landed on the ground.

"No," he replied. "But I knew of him."

There were plenty of reasons that the topic had never come up. Mostly that Veia was very dead and while it was little secret...

There were clones.

Athrun looked at Hyi and tried not to stare as he crawled down from the Zaku, helping Elijah more out of concern than anything else.

Elijah was definitely crying now.

"I'll get the Zaku," Athrun said. He wasn't entirely sure if he could carry the machine back on his own, but he could probably figure out something between his backpack and everything else. He at least had a platform for it whereas both the Vent Saviour and Gale Strike were ill-equipped for cargo.

"Are you sure?" Hyi asked.

"I'll try not to damage it." He'd been trying to make a joke, but judging by the looks on both Hyi and Elijah's faces, it had fallen flat.

He really needed to figure out what was going on.  
And he'd probably not get a chance for awhile, unless he could corner Erica half-inside the torso of the machine he had Justice kneel to grab.

Hyi was assisting him a second later with Gale Strike. He seemed to know just what Athrun was trying to do and together, they managed to get the Zaku up and onto the backpack's platform. It was awkward, and likely to lose a foot to the way it hung over a thruster, but better than nothing.

"Thanks..." Elijah managed.

Slowly, and mostly in silence, they made their way back to Morgenroete.

Erica was waiting for them.

However, not a single negative word came out of her mouth. She simply, once they'd all disembarked, gave them each a quick motherly hug and told them to go wash up.

By the time Athrun had Justice settled, three Murasames were loading the Zaku onto a flatbed truck.

Erica was nowhere to be seen.

Athrun wasn't going to let that go. She picked up on the third ring as he ducked around a corner, away from Hyi.

"I need to know what's going on," he said firmly. "This is getting..."

"Complicated, I know," she finished. "It's a step beyond even what I was expecting, to be honest. But I can explain, I promise."

"What is Hyi?" Athrun asked. "He's a clone, right? That's the only explanation that makes any sense, and now that I've thought of it, it makes perfect sense."

"Not a clone," Erica said quickly. "Not in the sense of the three that you're probably thinking of. Though their lives become a little complicated now that Veia is--"

"Erica?"

"Nothing," she said. "I can't prove everything yet, so... just try to be patient. Hyi isn't like we are, but he's trying so hard. He's just got... work to do."

Athrun sighed. And when he turned, saw Hyi wandering the runway, apparently looking for him.

"Gotta go," he said. "We'll talk."

"We will," Erica replied.

Athrun wasn't the one to disconnect the phone call. He knew, quite well, that Erica always seemed to be one step ahead of everything. It was a part of why he was so fond of her. But this was getting ridiculous.

It also made no sense that someone would clone a clone, so whatever Veia was... the most likely answer was that he was simply Veia, gone into hiding or something else for the last half-dozen years.

Perhaps there were so many levels to all of this that Erica thought it might be better if Athrun stayed in the dark.

"Hyi!" Athrun called, raising a hand.

Hyi turned and smiled, running over to him.

"I didn't see where you went," he said. "That was good - getting the Zaku back here. I thought we'd need a plane..."

Athrun shook his head. "Probably the less attention drawn to all of this, the better? Especially if Veia is monitoring communications somehow."

Hyi nodded. "That's a good assessment."

"So... do you know what's going on?" Athrun asked him. It wouldn't take too long to get back to where they really could clean up and...

He glanced up. It was nearly dark. Despite being slow-going on the way back, he really hadn't realized that it was that slow.

"Some," Hyi replied. "There was..."

Hyi frowned.

"Well, there were a few incidents but... It's complicated."

Athrun chuckled. Obviously it was complicated or people would stop telling him just how complicated the situation was.

"Is it a current threat?" he questioned.

Hyi shook his head quickly. "No. Absolutely not. Veia isn't a threat, either. He's just... We..."

"Mmm?" For a second, Athrun thought he was going to get some information out of Hyi.

"Not right now..." Hyi seemed truly apologetic. And torn. Athrun assumed it had to do with the faction logos that had been scraped from the Gale Strike. He'd let Hyi tell him whenever Hyi was ready.

~*~

Keeping Hyi fed had fallen to Athrun again, which Athrun didn't mind in the least. To be honest, he ate far better when he was with someone else than when he was just stopping to get something for himself. Or, even worse, cooking for himself. At first he'd experimented, but as time passed, he found it far easier to grab the barely edible food on base or just grab the cheapest quickest convenience store meals. They did what they had to do, at least.

But when it came to Hyi, Athrun thought he should do a little better by him.

"Is there anything you don't like to eat?" Athrun asked as they drove. He'd insisted on a shower, and after a little prodding, Hyi had washed up as well. He seemed a bit nervous in the communal shower, which made Athrun wince a bit inwardly. But Athrun also had decided that Hyi must be a little younger, too, and possibly just insecure. It wasn't like Athrun was going to peek...

Hyi shrugged. They were both back in generic Morgenroete clothing - dirty and sweaty garments had been sent to be washed.

"Oh, don't tempt me to take you somewhere really strange," Athrun said with a chuckle. He had tried out almost every restaurant in the area, just out of boredom and curiousity, over the last little bit. Well, he'd first found most of them before, when he'd been living alongside Cagalli.

Cagalli was still a complicated part of his life. She was good to do her own thing, and he was good to do his, and sometimes they saw each other but... they didn't really talk. Maybe, Athrun though, they should. Someday.

"How strange?" Hyi questioned.

"There's one on the other side of the base where you can pick your sushi off the stomachs of naked women," Athrun said and then instantly regretted it. He'd only been there once, for someone's exceptionally rowdy retirement party. And he hadn't thought it particularly hygienic, to be honest. But now Hyi probably assumed he frequented, since it was his first suggestion and...

"No," Hyi said quickly, and blushing. "I don't think..."

"That's good," Athrun replied. "I don't think Erica would ever let me here the end of that."

"The place where we went last time is okay," Hyi said after a moment. "I won't order as much..."

"You can order whatever you want," Athrun said. He'd have to drop back a block, but it wasn't out of the way at all. As long as it wouldn't be the only place they'd ever go...

If this was going to turn into a regular thing...

"Do you drive at all?" Athrun asked him. "Or just mobile suits?"

"I..." Hyi seemed to be thinking hard on the subject, which made Athrun frown. How could he need to think about such a yes-or-no question?

"I think I know how, but I don't think you'd want to let me drive your car around town," Hyi finally said. "I could practice on the runways, if it'd be better if I provide my own transportation..."

"I'm happy to drive you," Athrun commented. "I was just curious. We can practice, though, if you want. I want to give Elijah some pointers with the Vent Saviour."

"You were a Saviour pilot," Hyi said quickly. He then listed Athrun's mobile suits...

"You did read up on me..." Athrun blushed a bit. He wasn't sure just what Hyi found, so he didn't really know where to start denying things.

"You're very famous," Hyi noted. "Very famous. A household name in the PLANTs and quite well-known on Earth. And I'm... riding around with you."

"Be thankful," Athrun said. They pulled into the restaurant's parking lot. "It's a lot easier to be nobody. I tried it and liked it..."

"Then why...?"

"It's a long story," Athrun replied. He chuckled. "It's complicated. But if we keep getting to chat, I guess we'll end up knowing all of each other's secrets."

"Yeah," Hyi said. He unbuckled his seatbelt and paused, looking up at the sky. "I guess we will."

"You don't seem so sure."

"It's complicated." Hyi chuckled, too, as he got out of the car and followed Athrun into the restaurant. Athrun was growing to dislike the word, but for the time being, he was just going to have to play along and unravel everything.

They were swarmed upon entry.

And with a little prodding, Athrun convinced Hyi to order far too much food and have enough to take home.

He didn't spend the night.


	3. Three

The next morning, Hyi wasn't anywhere in sight when Athrun stepped into Erica's office. But Erica was there, as was Elijah.

"Am I ever going to find out what's going on?" Athrun asked flatly, staring at them both.

"With what?" Erica questioned. "I'm still figuring out just how many messes we have on our hands."

"That's not what you said..."

"I hadn't talked to Elijah yet," Erica interrupted. "But we're going to sit down and handle what needs to be handled with Veia first. And then we'll worry about Hyi and whatever may still be going on in space."

"All Hyi says is that things are complicated," Athrun told her. "That's not really helpful at all."

"Hyi might not actually know," Erica noted. She reached for her coffee. "Veia might not know, either."

"There was a group of... these guys..." Elijah started, shaking his head. "And they made..."

"They carefully selected a handful of people - political figures, mercenaries, Junk Guild members, and more -- all influential within their own circles -- and made copies of friends or relatives of those people and used those copies to attempt to destroy them," Erica explained. "At least as far as I can gather."

"What?" Athrun was stunned. That was just... unfathomable.

"Except they failed to consider one thing," Erica continued. "A copy of a person who has all that person's memories and thoughts and emotions... is going to behave just like the person they were copied from."

"So Veia came to get me..." Elijah explained. "So we could stay together this time. But I refused, because... even though his life had stopped, even though I was what he remembered, that was years ago and I... moved on. But he still gave me Vent Saviour and..."

He'd teared up again. Erica handed him a box of tissues.

"That's why I need to find him and help him."

"Wait... There's some weird group out in space...?" Athrun started. This was kind of overwhelming and if he didn't already know a pair of human research experiments, along with a trio of clones, he'd think both Erica and Elijah had gone crazy.

"Not anymore," Elijah replied with a headshake. "They've been taken care of. However..."

"There are still the copies out there," Erica said. "For Elijah, there's Veia. For Lady Sahaku, there's her brother with his own Socius."

"Hyi's a copy?" Athrun questioned. That made everything make a lot of sense, aside from exactly how that sort of copy would be made. But the details weren't really the important thing this time around.

"Yeah," Elijah said, frowning.

"And I assume you've already figured out who he's a copy of," Erica added.

Athrun nodded. His newfound friend was a copy of one of the most famous mercenaries in space.

No wonder Hyi was so awkward. No wonder he seemed so lost at times.

He already existed, after all. He...

"Serpent Tail sent him here to learn what he can and then decide what he wants to do with himself," Erica explained. "Aside from his origin, he's not poorly adjusted or anything. He just needs to decide what he wants to do with himself."

"Because he can't stay with us," Elijah said flatly. Athrun was surprised. When interacting with Hyi, Elijah seemed much more fond of him. But that had to be awkward, too. Because it was very possible to like someone but not want to be around them all the time.

He tried not to think of Yzak. And failed.

"And he's painfully aware of all of this," Athrun concluded. "He's a good guy..."

"He hasn't stopped talking about you, actually," Erica said with a soft smile. "Ever since you went out in Justice originally."

Athrun knew he had a blush on his face. He looked away. "That was just Justice. Besides, he's good too."

"We're all going to look for Veia today," Elijah said after a long moment that mostly involved Athrun glancing back towards Erica and trying to stare her down. It was impossible.

"All of us," Erica added. "I haven't had a day 'off' in ages, so I'm going to tag along. There are a few resort towns near where you three found the Zaku, so hopefully he's just trying to blend in."

"Should I change?" Athrun questioned. He had his usual Morgenroete uniform on again.

"Lose the jacket," Erica ordered. She stood and headed over to the coffee maker to refill her cup. "Want some?"

"Yes," Elijah and Athrun said together. They paused, and chuckled. Athrun slid his jacket off and hung it on another chair.

By the time Hyi arrived, courtesy of the hotel's shuttle, they had the day's plan thouroughly in place. And if they ended up doing any sight-seeing or other relaxing, well, it happened. Veia was likely going to be watching for any military vehicles as well, so Athrun volunteered his own car. And Erica hers.

Hyi didn't even hesitate before walking over to Athrun's car.

"Hey..." Athrun said while they were waiting in line for the ferry to the mainland.

"Hmmm?" Hyi looked a little tired. Athrun wondered if he'd been up reading again. If he really had all of Gai's memories up through his teenage years, and then had missed the last decade, then catching up would be both addictive and daunting.

"Erica told me."

"Told you?" Hyi frowned.

"What you are."

Hyi was silent and Athrun didn't want to push. But it was better to get this sort of thing out in the open. Because now that Athrun knew why Hyi was so awkward, well, he was going to react differently.

"You don't mind?" Hyi asked cautiously, once they'd been waved on to the ferry.

"Why would I mind?" Athrun questioned. "I know... well, people with all sorts of different circumstances. Even some who were born in labs..."

"But I'm... not even anyone on my own," Hyi said. "Did Erica tell you my real name?"

"Real name?"

"Designation," Hyi corrected. "ND HE - No Data, High Error. I..."

Athrun swallowed hard.

"You can pick a new name. It's... not easy, but..."

"Alex Dino?" Hyi asked.

Athrun nodded. "Yeah. You know, that one's available now. You can have it."

"No... but thanks."

"You're just 'Hyi' to me," Athrun said, pulling into a spot with a good view. They'd gotten separated from Erica and Elijah at a traffic light, but he was sure they were around somewhere. "I just understand you better."

"I've done a lot of reading," Hyi admitted. "I'm not sure that I understand you at all."

"You want to?" Athrun questioned. He didn't look over, instead looking out at the channel that separated Onogoro from the main island.

"I think so," Hyi said. "I... have and haven't met a lot a people. And the people I've met..."

Athrun glanced over just in time to see him shake his head.

"It's hard to sort out," Hyi explained. "The things I know because I remember them and they're not really... me. But they are. Like driving. I have the memories but I've never actually done it. And... I remember things that... I have dreams about things that I don't remember but since it's apparently all in there, I just don't know what to think at all."

"You'll get there," Athrun said softly. He reached to rest a hand on Hyi's shoulder. Hyi looked like he was about to tear up, but he didn't. Which was good. Elijah was enough to handle.

Armed with Hyi and a blurry photo on his phone of what Veia currently looked like, Athrun tromped through a busy central market. Anything that anyone could want could probably be bought there. Between groceries and trinkets were mobile suit parts and a few other things that Athrun didn't think were actually legal to be selling second-hand. But that wasn't why he was there. He could overlook them.

"Think Erica and Elijah are having any luck?" Hyi asked after about a dozen blocks. He'd perked up a bit from the ferry ride. Apparently even talking about things a little had been exceptionally cathartic.

"They would have called," Athrun replied. He checked his phone. He had a full signal and no missed calls. And while there was indeed a message, it wasn't from either of them and there was really no need to be checking other messages while on a mission. Work could wait. Everything could wait for just a little while.

"You're right." Hyi looked around again. "I've never seen anything like this before. At all. Ever."

Athrun chuckled. "It's because this is a tourist spot," he explained. "Most of this isn't aimed at the locals, but at anyone else who happens to come through. If there's anything you want, I do have cash on me today."

"I... do have some money," Hyi admitted. "I'm just trying to hang on to it til I know what I really want to spend it on. I may need it for a place of my own, if I stay. Or for something for Gale Strike..."

Athrun chuckled. He'd seen Hyi looking at some of the mobile suit parts just as extensively as he had. It wasn't a bad way to look for Veia, either. While Athrun doubted that Veia would have been trying to fix that Zaku, on the off chance that he was planning something, he'd be looking for the same parts that Athrun had seen.

"Are you thinking of staying for awhile?" Athrun questioned. "I don't think anyone minds you staying in the hotel. Morgenroete pays for the rooms whether anyone is in them or not. Sometimes they just offer them up for romantic getaways or random employees who need a night away from whatever."

"I don't know yet," Hyi admitted. "I just want to find my own way. Whatever that is."

"And you don't have much experience anywhere, so... visit some other places first," Athrun instructed. "You're a coordinator - you could go to the PLANTs, too. Even without paperwork, I know people there who'd still listen if you were interested."

"I..." Hyi looked at Athrun a bit oddly.

And then gestured quickly down the block, where a slight young man in a hooded sweatshirt was apparently bartering for his lunch.

"Veia," Hyi said softly.

Athrun was already busy sending a quick text message.

"He'll recognize you," Athrun said once he'd finished. "Stay here and I'll follow him until Elijah and Erica arrive."

"But..."

"I'll come back, don't worry," Athrun said quickly. Veia had started to move farther down in the market, casually eating something wrapped in wax paper. He had sunglasses on, but his hood was down and with his hair uncovered, he was blindingly obvious. Perhaps because he wanted to be...

Athrun moved away from Hyi, who sort of wilted against a nearby wall. As bad as he felt, Athrun didn't want Veia to run and depending on how his comraderie with Veia had ended, there was always a chance of that.

Keeping his distance, Athrun followed Veia for a few blocks, stealthily, until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Glancing quickly back, it was Elijah.

"I think he's looking for someone," Athrun whispered. "He's moving slowly and obviously... Or he has someone looking for him. Who isn't us."

Elijah nodded, keeping half-behind Athrun. "I guess we'll see? Give him a moment or two?"

There was strong enough hesitation in Elijah's voice that Athrun could tell that the merc just wanted to run after his friend. After the copy of his friend. That had to sting worse than anything. He didn't know what he'd do if confronted with a copy of Rusty or Miguel or... Nicol.

He didn't know how he'd react at all. And it would be even harder for said copy, he imagined. That was what Hyi was going through.

The context didn't fully fall into place until he considered Nicol. But he couldn't keep thinking about it. Not when he had to stay on Veia's tail.

"Any sudden movements and I'm on him," Athrun said flatly.

"Right."

They lingered back far enough to stay unnoticed, even as Veia finished eating and tossed the empty wax paper into a garbage can on a corner. He paused, looked around once, and veered left to meet two hooded men approaching from the other direction. One gestured at an alley and Veia nodded.

Athrun swore under his breath. If they were going to get off the main streets, following them would be far more difficult. And if those men in the hoods were...

He had a gun with him, something he hadn't mentioned to Hyi. He hoped Hyi didn't have his. Elijah had better have one...

"C'mon," he said, gesturing that they needed to run. Elijah was on his heels until he had to clear an oncoming car to keep going. Cars had never been much of an obstacle.

Luckily, the trio hadn't ducked far off the main street. Instead, they'd settled onto a handful of discarded wooden crates to chat.

And a trio they truly were - with hoods back, the other two members revealed pale blue hair just a couple of shades off of Veia's.

Athrun came to a full stop. They all stared at one another for a long moment before Elijah caught up and skidded to a halt.

"Elijah!" both Socius exclaimed in unison.

"You came for me?" Veia questioned. Elijah nodded.

"Of course I did," Elijah said softly. Athrun stepped off to the side. His work was probably done and...

He had to go get Hyi.

Veia smiled. Elijah smiled.

"Handle this," Athrun said to Elijah as he turned to go. While there was a chance that the Socius were up to no good, he doubted it. And he passed Erica on his way back around the corner. No worries now.

"Where are you..." she started. But he just shook his head.

Hyi, thankfully, had just moved to sit on a bench and had gained a newspaper as well.

"You got him?" Hyi questioned.

"Elijah has him," Athrun replied as he sat down. "I'm sure he'll call if he needs anything."

"Do you know why he's still here?" Hyi questioned.

Athrun nodded. "Not exactly, but he's with his own kind."

"Hmm?" Hyi looked at him quizically.

"Socius," Athrun replied. Hyi's eyes went wide.

"And you let him go?" Hyi grabbed for Athrun's hands to tug him back in the direction that Veia had gone.

"I'm not really worried," Athrun said carefully. "They're Socius..."

"Right!" Hyi tugged at him again. People were beginning to stare.

"Okay..." Athrun said quickly, not wanting to cause more of a scene. He let Hyi pull him up. "Let's wander that way and you can tell me why they're so bad..."

Hopefully, Hyi was just overreacting -- any Socius that Athrun had met had been about as hazardous as a teacup. Unless provoked, of course.

The mental image that Hyi painted of a rogue Socius was nearly hilarious and definitely impossible to reconcile against the demure, quiet young men that he'd met.

But considering who and what Hyi was... Athrun couldn't not believe him. And Erica had mentioned one of the copies having a Socius companion.

"The two who were with Veia both know Elijah," Athrun added, once Hyi was done explaining. "And Erica was there, too. She may even know them. Though I don't think they were Lady Sahaku's attendants. They normally wear uniforms."

Hyi frowned. "But Finis might still be out there. That I don't know..."

He sighed. They were nearly back to the crossroads.

And there was Erica, watching with a smile as both Socius were apparently attempting to explain something to Elijah. He had a strange explanation on his face, while Veia hung back just a bit.

Though Veia was the first one to see Hyi, and backstepped.

Erica was the one who caught his arm. Athrun could just barely hear Erica's words: "He's okay."

"So what's the plan?" Athrun questioned.

Hyi was watching the trio carefully, silent.

The Socius had diverted to look at Hyi, and after a long moment they glanced at each other and offered him little smiles.

"You're a pilot?" One of them asked Hyi.

Hyi nodded. "Of course I am."

"A good one," the other Socius added with a bit more of a smile.

"Perhaps you'll honor us with a duel," the first said.

Elijah sighed. "He's not... Well..."

"It's okay," Hyi said softly, looking to Erica. She nodded.

"If I can use the data from his machine and yours, I'm fine with it," she said. "Morbidly curious, to be honest."

Athrun gave her a strange little look.

Elijah echoed the look, and then began gesturing. "Okay, that's Veia, Seven and Eleven Socius - Eleven answers to Lucky Blue, Erica, Hyi and Athrun."

"Athrun Zala?" the first - Seven Socius - questioned.

Athrun nodded.

"An honor."

"The boys need some repairs done on their machines," Erica said quickly. Athrun was grateful for the interruption. He felt ridiculously out of place amongst the group. "So we'll take Veia back with us and they'll meet us at Morgenroete."

Hyi was keeping a close eye on Seven and Eleven. "Just two of you?" he questioned.

Eleven nodded. "Yes. We're a pair. Though there were three..."

"Not Finis," Veia said firmly, as if reading Hyi's mind. "Don't worry about him. He's not here."

Hyi just nodded, choosing to keep silent.

"We'll head back," Athrun announced. At least Hyi hadn't held on to his hand the entire time they'd walked. That had made him feel awkward in only a few seconds.

And then he'd thought about Nicol.

Would he accept a carbon copy of Nicol? One with all the memories and expressions, all the inflection and optimism. If he was a perfect copy, then...

"Enjoy the town," Erica suggested. "We won't get anything done before tomorrow anyway."

Athrun knew she was lying. If she made it back to Morgenroete. Though just maybe Erica would take some time to enjoy herself as well. Unlikely.

That was just how she was.

Athrun was quiet as he and Hyi walked back to where they'd parked, far across the town.

"What are you thinking about?" Hyi asked midway. "If... it's okay to ask?"

"Yeah..." Athrun sighed. "And if you want food or anything, let me know. We should probably get something, since we still have to drive back and wait for the ferry. At least we're going the right way... More people work on Onogoro than live there, so everyone will be leaving when we're heading back."

Hyi nodded and waited, until Athrun realized he'd dodged Hyi's question. Which was nearly a block later.

"I had a friend... I had a lot of friends who died during the wars... And I was thinking that if I had the chance to have them back, like Elijah has with Veia... if I'd want them. How I'd feel..."

"Don't think about it," Hyi said quickly. "Just... don't think about it. The process isn't perfect or easy and everything would have had to have been preserved..."

Athrun wanted to ask how to find out - how to find out if the technology even still existed or if it had been destroyed. If he could be told that there was no way, it'd be better than seeing Hyi and seeing Veia and wondering...

"But..."

"No, it wouldn't be the same," Hyi said firmly. "Your friend would know what he was, and never stop thinking about his original. It would haunt him. Especially that you felt so strongly for the original and he'd always wonder if he's good enough..."

"Hyi..." Athrun knew that Hyi was telling the truth. And he hated that he'd even considered it, but to be able to listen to Nicol play piano, or go drinking with Heine, or listen to Miguel tell stories about the battles he'd fought...

Or Rusty telling everyone to stop fighting and be a team.

"I don't want to be Gai," Hyi said. "Gai is Gai. Even though I'm not someone else, I am. And I need to figure out... who I am. Don't wish this on someone else."

Athrun nodded. Maybe grabbing something to eat wouldn't be a good idea. Unless they kept walking while they ate. He didn't think he'd be able to meet Hyi's clear blue eyes for a bit.

Not without feeling so very full of guilt.


	4. Chapter 4

Athrun didn't want to ask who or what the Socius had tangled with, but their machines were definitely worse for wear because of it. Erica explained a bit about Seven and Eleven the next day as they worked. Their story was fascinating, and midway through the day, they both arrived to help, along with Elijah and Veia.

Only Hyi kept his distance, deciding instead to work on his own machine. Athrun wasn't sure what the Gale Strike could possibly need, but he didn't question. If Hyi wasn't comfortable, Athrun didn't want to push him.

The night had been miserable. Of course he hadn't been able to stop thinking about the possibilities, and when exhaustion finally overtook him, nightmares wracked him. Hyi was so very correct; he had to not think about it.

"You two could have just come and asked for repairs," Erica chided, when the Socius, dressed in Morgenroete gear, wandered in. They looked far better than they had the day before. Sleep and warm meals had apparently been good for them. For Veia, too, who was in his own clothing and even had his headphones dangling around his neck.

"You're Athrun Zala?" the one Socius questioned him again as he settled to help pull out a hydraulic hose that had gotten nicked.

"I am," Athrun replied. "Is... that a problem to you?"

The Socius shook his head. "Not at all. Just a name one never expects to meet the person it belongs to. Though I can say the same about..." He gestured to Veia and Athrun nodded quickly. That had to be pretty intense, too. While Athrun had never thought that Lady Sahaku's trio showed much emotion, these two had a greater range of expression and were more talkative already.

"I can't begin to imagine," Athrun admitted. He couldn't. And even stranger since Veia wasn't their original but instead also a copy. But different.

"No..." The Socius gave him a little smile and reached to undo the end of the hose. "This one is mine, by the way."

"What were you fighting?" Athrun questioned.

"Which time?" The hose was discarded and Athrun reached for the new one he'd cut. At least the machines had M1 Astrays as bases, and despite the numerous modifications that had been made, the basics were still the same and Athrun could cut hoses for both Astrays and Murasames with his eyes shut.

"Any of them," Athrun replied with a chuckle. That would be like naming the dents on Justice, after all. The big ones got repaired, the smaller ones were eventually taken care of, once there were bigger ones. But there was no chance he could identify all of them.

"Bandits, mostly. Eleven finds other work for us sometimes as well," the Socius - Seven, obviously - explained. "Sometimes there are dozens of them."

"Against only two of you?"

Seven nodded and took the end of the hose from Athrun. He threaded it up inside the machine and attached it.

"It wouldn't be difficult for you, either," Seven said firmly.

"You sound like Hyi. He didn't know who I was one day and then yesterday, he was rambling off my battle records on the way back to the ferry..." Athrun sighed.

"He's interesting." Seven moved with such efficiency that Athrun couldn't help but wonder how many times he'd fixed the same things. Maybe Athrun could see about some re-inforced hoses, or coated, or maybe make something all new that would do the same thing but different. There had to be a way...

"Hyi? Yeah..."

"He's something that we never considered," Seven admitted. "There's no benefit to fighting him, but it would be interesting anyway."

"Erica told me about your fights with Gai Murakumo." Athrun attached the other end of the hose and clipped everything in. Probably knocked into rocks and trees and whatnot in dense areas. In a proper battle... No, there were no proper battles... Not anymore, thankfully.

So there would be rocks and trees and damaged ankles. Athrun could fix those. Happily.

"At the time, there was great meaning to those fights," Seven said firmly. "It's difficult to explain..."

Athrun nodded. "I won't pretend to understand, but I know what it's like to have things that... well, matter to me that I can't justify to anyone else."

"Is that why you're here, now, doing this?"

"Yes." Athrun smiled. "Exactly."

Seven echoed the smile, though on him it seemed out of place. They continued to work on his Astray, however mostly in silence. That was more than fine - it gave him a chance to listen, which was far more interesting anyway. He enjoyed being just another pilot and mechanic.

And he also enjoyed figuring out all the little tweaks and augmentations each machine sported. Seven was a ranged fighter, obviously, and Eleven was better with close combat. Athrun was fairly sure he just had way more machine than Eleven, but was going to ask about a match, definitely.

With that many hands on familiar machines, the repairs to the Astrays were finished before sunset.

By then, Athrun had gotten to say a few words to Eleven, and Veia had settled with Elijah, deep in some conversation that the outside world never needed to know about. Just the expression on Elijah's face made Athrun long for Nicol.

Mentally, he kicked himself.

"Let's go," Eleven said, tagging Athrun's sleeve quickly. "We have clearance."

"Huh?" Athrun blinked at Eleven. Then it made sense. "Really? Tonight?"

Doing rounds with the Gale Strike had felt good. This would be better. And not that he'd ever been terribly competitive, but Eleven was one of the best pilots in... One of the best pilots. Period.

Eleven nodded. "Erica is at home, having dinner with her family. However, everything is set to record remotely. Seven will observe."

"About time," Athrun commented. "I was starting to think that Erica was living here."

Eleven gave him a strange little look and headed for his machine.

Athrun stretched and headed off towards Justice.

In motion, Eleven's M1 Astray was much more interesting than the standard machine. Every joint had seemingly been modified to change the range of motion. Athrun paused and watched Eleven put it through a quick routine that reminded him almost of a fighter stretching before a match. Beautiful.

There was also a certain irony in Eleven having a mass-produced variant of the machine of his greatest rival. It seemed almost insulting, though Eleven didn't seem to see it that way. He had explained that he was a part of his machine, and in order to be his best, he simply needed to know how to work with what he had.

Gai had freed him from many things. Perhaps the constant mention of the mercenary's name was part of why Hyi kept away. Athrun hadn't even seen him during the afternoon. Which was perfectly understandable. Possibly, he just had other things to do.

Athrun wasn't worried - especially not when he was getting a rare chance to show off his skill.

Mobile suits, however, were crafted for fights to the finish. At the far end of the runways, Eleven pulled out a beam saber and waited. Athrun was on him without hesitation. Each movement was fast, and Athrun found himself not thinking at all and just reacting, figuring out Eleven's patterns and anticipating his moves as best he could. Eleven was skilled and fast and nearly overwhelming him with every movement. In a real battle, he'd be terrifying. But Athrun knew he could adapt and while Eleven matched his movements, he kept trying.

The sun was setting, though Athrun barely noticed as he twisted and parried and tried to keep up to Eleven. The Astray was a good match for Justice, which surprised Athrun. He'd have to ask Erica exactly who had done the modifications on the machine. It was fascinating. Amazing.

The Astray had to be running as hard as it ever had and then some. Whatever hidden modifications had been done to it, Athrun wanted to know them. He was enthralled.

Finally...

And just when Athrun had missed a block and expected to be batted across the runway, the M1 slowed.

"Out of power...."

"We'll finish later," Athrun said with a chuckle.

The Astray was dark for a moment before the auxillary emergency system fired up and Athrun got Eleven back to the hangars. Only once Eleven was back did Seven come back in his own machine. He hadn't said a word, but Athrun knew he'd been watching carefully. If Eleven would have been in any true danger, Seven would have jumped in instantly.

Hyi was there once Athrun descended. His presence was a pleasant surprise.

"That was good," Hyi said. "Close..."

"Yeah..." Athrun needed a shower, badly, he realized, once he stepped into the cool air blowing through the hangar. He'd been sweating.

Eleven had the strange smile that all of the Socius seemed to get. It was unnerving in its own way... Lady Sahaku had once told him that they had been made to be expressionless. Athrun had been horrified at first even though he'd seen far worse.

Perhaps because he had seen worse - because he'd seen things like Lodonia first hand - made him sympathetic to the Socius more than he would have been otherwise.

Athrun held out his hand. Eleven took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Rematch," Athrun agreed.

"Definitely."

Seven descended a moment later and just watched them. But Athrun could tell that he, too, was pleased.

Veia and Elijah had disappeared, but Athrun could imagine. However...

"Time to head back?" Hyi questioned. He was still hesistant around the Socius. Understandable, but frustrating.

Athrun nodded, then looked to Seven and Eleven. "Do you two need a ride?"

"We've been loaned a vehicle," Eleven replied. "We're both capable of driving."

"Have a good night, then," Athrun commented. While a shower would be nice, it'd probably have to wait. Food would be good... and he knew he was going to be running on adrenaline for a bit. The crash would be bad. But it had all been so very much worth it.

"You too," Seven said. Both young men offered him an OMNI salute. He gave them the ZAFT salute in response. They all smiled.

Halfway back out of the facility, Hyi spoke up.

"I want to learn to drive."

"I thought you knew how..." Athrun wasn't really thinking about Hyi and driving. He was thinking about Eleven and that M1. Amazing.

It was keeping him from thinking about Nicol, which was an added bonus.

"But I've never done it. Not me..."

"Tomorrow," Athrun said quickly. He could tell from the tone of Hyi's voice that this was very important, so... "You can use my car. We'll just get some space on the runways. There'll be room and if you're good with the basics..."

"Thank you."

"You have to let me look at Gale Strike more," Athrun said a moment later. They got to the first traffic light.

"You're hungry?"

"A bit..." Hyi reached to fidget with the radio. He seemed to like the pop station, which amused Athrun. "Somewhere different tonight?"

"Okay." Now he had to think of somewhere... Maybe Chinese? Athrun thought Chinese sounded good.

"He's strong," Hyi managed a couple of minutes later, just before the last turn before the better of the local Chinese places.

"Eleven?" Athrun questioned. "Yeah... Good to have him on our side."

"We're not really a 'side'," Hyi replied. "But..."

"Well, he's not hostile." Athrun wondered what Hyi was getting at. He trusted Erica, after all, and if Erica had brought them in, they had to be okay. "They're not hostile..."

Hyi spent most of dinner asking more about the decor of the restaurant than anything else. It was a nice break, really.

"Want to stay for awhile?" Hyi asked as Athrun was pulling up to the hotel.

"Well..." Athrun didn't want to refuse, but the adrenaline was fading and he was exhausted.

"Nevermind..."

"Oh, but... I'd like to," Athrun admitted. He wanted to ask more questions, because he'd heard more things from Elijah, about others, about them heading further into space. But Hyi came back...

Hyi needed something. A greater purpose, not to hide.

Athrun understood that so very well.

"What?"

"I'm just worn out," Athrun explained. "I'd fall asleep on your sofa again."

"Okay."

Athrun chuckled. "If that's really what you want. But I get a blanket this time."

Hyi nodded. Athrun pulled around to the parking garage. It wouldn't be too different from sharing rooms with other pilots, teammates, comrades, friends.

"There's room on the bed," Hyi said, causing Athrun to tap the brakes a bit hard while looping through the garage to find a spot. Hyi was red when Athrun looked over at him.

"Not like that," he said quickly. "It's just... better than the sofa. I don't... I mean... I haven't... um..."

"Sure," Athrun said softly. He didn't even want to think about untangling Hyi's sexual history, because if he had any memories of that sort of stuff that weren't his own...

That wholly killed any further thoughts Athrun wanted to have about Nicol.

Athrun found a parking spot and turned the car off.

"I'll have to borrow something to wear, though," he said. His current clothing was both smelly and dirty. He'd prefer to leave it in the trunk, but he doubted the hotel would appreciate him streaking to the elevator.

"I have stuff," Hyi said quickly. "You can borrow whatever you want. We're about the same size."

Athrun nodded. "Thanks."

"Would you tell me more about the wars?"

"Yeah..." They made their way in through the lobby and to the elevators. "Sure."

Hyi's room looked like it was only clean due to the benefit of housekeeping. Clothing was hung neatly, clean, and everything on the desk and tables was in neat piles. But it looked artificial. If it wasn't the maids, it was just how Hyi had taken to organizing. And it just wasn't quite right yet.

"I have a lot of food, too," Hyi said, showing off the fridge. Definitely had made breakfast into an art form. And there were coffee packets. Athrun nodded.

"You can shower first if you'd like," Hyi continued. "I know you were concerned..."

"That I look and smell like I just went through a war?" Athrun asked. "Mmm, it'd be worse if I'd had a proper suit on, to be honest. But yes... thank you."

"I'll find you something to wear. There are always towels..."

Athrun nodded and watched Hyi as he started to rummage around. While at first it looked like he'd accumulated things, they were mostly the hotel's things - glasses and notepads and reference books...

"Thanks," he said as he pulled off his jacket. Maybe if it was aired, it'd be okay.

"Just on the floor..."

When Athrun glanced his way, Hyi was already undressing. Either he hadn't realized that Athrun hadn't moved into the bathroom or he just lacked modesty. Not that Athrun really cared, after years of sharing rooms and showers. But with Hyi it was different.

He ducked into the bathroom and finished undressing there, tucking all of the important stuff from his pockets onto the sink counter, as far away from the sink as possible. He'd move it before he went to bed. Maybe.

Athrun turned on the shower and waited a moment before sticking his hand in. The water temperature and pressure were perfect. When he stepped in to feel the full spray, he relaxed instantly. Wonderful. Closing his eyes, he could feel the whole day washing away - at least all the sweat and the feeling of that battle. In actual combat, when they weren't being careful and staying on the ground, he didn't doubt that Eleven would have done some serious damage.

And that was nearly a good thing. As long as everyone could be kept in check -- including himself. Erica had already told him how to keep Eleven in check, just in case, though Athrun hated the thought.

He fell into a bit of a trance, going through the motions of cleaning himself even though his thoughts were wandering all over the place. More than once they wandered back to Hyi and just what he was going to end up doing. Athrun knew what it was like to feel so lost and confused about purpose. But was Hyi really going to find himself here, under Erica's wing?

Athrun nearly jumped when the bathroom door opened.

"Just putting some clothes in," Hyi called softly. "Sorry... it took a minute to change and straighten up."

"Thanks," Athrun replied. The door closed again. The maids had taken care of most everything, but Athrun supposed that if Hyi had things he wanted to tuck away, there was nothing wrong with that.

He rinsed quickly - hopefully the hotel conditioner wouldn't do anything too awful to his hair. He ran his hands through it again - it was getting pretty long and needed to be trimmed one of these days. Just something he hadn't really thought about.

Everything in the bathroom had steamed up, and once he'd gotten dried off enough to walk across the the floor, he turned on the vent fan. And resisted the urge to draw little stick figures and whatnot on the bathroom mirror like he and Kira had done as children. Of course, he'd also started adding wiring diagrams when there was enough steam and space, which annoyed Kira, who was much happier drawing birds and his family and Athrun.

Athrun was pleased to find that Hyi had left him a pair of swearpants and a dark t-shirt. Either he had more of a wardrobe than Athrun knew about or he'd been picking up a few things here and there. Either was likely, Athrun supposed.

Once his hair wasn't dripping, Athrun dressed quickly. He'd already taken longer than he'd intended...

Hyi had transformed the room. Not entirely, but there were enough changes that Athrun noticed them immediately. It wasn't just 'picked up', it was 'picked up with a purpose'. There were drinks out, and ice brought from the machine in the hallway. The bed was turned down, but thankfully Hyi was over in the room's lone easy chair, datapad propped on his lap. Even the miscellaneous piles on the desks had been neatened up.

Athrun chose not to comment.

"Sorry I took so long," he said as he wiggled his toes against the plush carpeting. So much nicer than the short pile he had in his own apartment. "The hot water felt amazing on my muscles. Of course, I'll probably fall right asleep on you..." He chuckled, and Hyi gave him a little smile.

"It's okay," Hyi replied. He closed whatever he'd been working on and pushed down the computer's screen. "I just picked up a bit and got some ice. This isn't too weird, is it?"

Unable to help a bit of a wince, Athrun wasn't quite sure what to say. "A bit," he admitted after a moment. "But don't worry. I know what you're intending, so I'm not going to take anything the wrong way. You can't help living in a hotel, after all."

Hyi nodded. And looked like he wanted to say something. But he said nothing.

And he tried again, but nothing.

"Mmm?" Athrun hoped he'd really just spit it out.

"You're my first friend... mine, that I made on my own," Hyi said softly, looking down and unwilling to meet Athrun's gaze. "We are friends, right?"

Athrun blinked a couple of times, wondering how he'd ended up in such an awkward situation. He was definitely fond of Hyi, but they hadn't known each other for very long. Still, that fondness meant something, so...

"Yes," Athrun replied firmly. "We are."

However, as far as being Hyi's first real friend? He just didn't feel quite up for the honor.

"Go ahead and sit," Hyi managed, scrambling up. "I'll wash up, too. I won't take long."

He was in the bathroom with the door closed before Athrun had poured himself what he thought looked and smelled like ginger ale. As much as Athrun thought of checking for a minibar with something harder, he resisted.

He settled into the chair that Hyi had vacated only to hear his jacket ringing across the room. A second later, he answered. He didn't expect to see Kira's name on the display and didn't even consider where he was when he flipped it open.

"Kira?"

"Athrun! Guess where I am?"

Athrun pondered for a moment. "Earthside, if you're that clear," he replied.

"Just landed in Orb! Can you come out?"

"Really?" Athrun was surprised. "I..."

Kira. In Orb. It wasn't impossible, after all. Both Cagalli and Kira's mother still lived here and Kira was close with them both. Normally, nothing could keep him from Kira, but...

Athrun heard the shower running. He'd already promised his time.

"Athrun?"

"I have plans tonight," Athrun said quickly. "I want to see you, but tonight..."

"Eh? Really, Athrun?" There was a teasing tone in Kira's voice. "You've never had any trouble there..."

"It's not like that." Athrun was terse with his tone. He didn't want to upset Kira, but Kira said some dumb things some times. Besides, at present, the entire entourage that he was gathering were not at all what he would think of as...

Well, take that back... Hyi was...

His friend. Right.

"Tomorrow then? I'll stay with Cagalli tonight anyway."

"In the afternoon," Athrun said quickly. "Give my best to Cagalli, would you?"

"She might come see you tomorrow too," Kira said. He was laughing. "You two should really talk things through."

"We have," Athrun reminded him. "Anyway... I should let you finish with whatever you were doing..."

"Yeah, getting everything settled. We just got in, actually."

"We?" Athrun questioned. He hadn't heard about any visiting dignitaries - there was going to be something just for Orb that would bring Lady Sahaku from space, but otherwise...

"Me and Strike Freedom," Kira explained. "Don't worry, there's nothing going on. Well, I'm supposed to check on a couple of things but I don't think there's anything to worry about. Just follow up on some weird activity months ago."

Inwardly, Athrun groaned. If Kira was there after Hyi, he didn't know what he'd do. Hope Kira would listen to reason, he supposed.

"You could have brought a Zaku or borrowed a Murasame," Athrun noted. "Strike Freedom is..."

"Mine," Kira replied firmly. "Don't worry. I'll keep her locked down when I'm not around. Besides, Freedom was sort of a symbol of Orb... I'm sure having her around Morgenroete will be fine."

Sometimes, Athrun thought, Kira missed the obvious entirely.

"I need to get going," Athrun told him quickly as he heard the shower turn off. "I'll see you in the afternoon, okay?"

"We'll have dinner, too," Kira added. "Have a good night, Athrun."

"You too," Kira," Athrun answered before ending the call. And turning his phone off.

The timing was awful. He'd barely managed to toss his phone back into his jacket when Hyi opened the bathroom door.

"Were you talking to someone?" Hyi questioned. He was trying to towel-dry his hair.

"Phone rang," Athrun replied. "Don't worry, I'm good to stay and then give you your driving lessons in the morning."

"And after that?" Hyi questioned.

"I might have a princess chasing me around with her-- well, a good friend."

Hyi nodded. He slung his towel over the top of the bathroom door.

"That's right. You fought along side Representative Athha in both wars," Hyi noted.

"She's a good pilot too," Athrun said. "Not quite an ace, but strong. She could hold her own against you for awhile, I'd bet."

"I was surprised that she'd be allowed to fight on the frontlines in a mobile suit," Hyi commented as he crossed the room to sit on the bed. "But the same could be said of you. You had a very high standing in the PLANTs."

"It's not at all fun," Athrun told him. He leaned against the dresser and desparately wished he'd gone for something harder than ginger ale. "I was happiest when I lived with my mother on the Moon. When I went back to the PLANTs, I found myself with a fiancee and a war and a form to sign up for the military. I didn't properly sign it til the week after my mother died..."

The ginger ale was fine, nothing would be strong enough. Ever.

"Oh..."

"Everything I did there was either politically motivated or arranged," Athrun said. He kept his gaze down. "I became friends with my squad-mates, but it wasn't easy at first. I was angry at being separated from my best friend."

"Best friend?" Hyi questioned.

"Kira Yamato, Freedom's pilot. He..."

"He has an article much like yours," Hyi noted. "Though your friendship is barely mentioned."

"Well... it's been awkward..."

The more they talked, the more they settled, until they'd both ended up sitting on the bed - Athrun leaning against the pillows while Hyi sat cross-legged at the end of the bed, listening intently.

Though as the hours passed, Hyi started telling his own stories, starting from the divergence of his own existance. And where he knew the errors were...

Athrun didn't know why the young man thought he was so flawed - he was fine. ZAFT would have taken him in an instant. He was half-tempted to suggest it to Hyi, and send him straight to Yzak. Though perhaps that would be cruel. For both of them.

Athrun wasn't sure when he'd fallen asleep, but he thought it might've been somewhere in between the two wars, when he was explaining about Cagalli. Though explaining anything about Cagalli involved censoring himself. Not that Hyi would know that. Cagalli was usually the one who gave things away.

It was a bright, sunny day when he woke, and he mentally cursed that neither of them had closed the blinds. But the glowing cityscape had been such a nice backdrop that Athrun had hated to do it. And Hyi apparently just liked knowing what was going on outside, even if the view was mostly of a subdivision and in the distance, water.

The bed wasn't huge to begin with, though Athrun didn't feel terribly awkward about having Hyi so close. There had been plenty of times that Nicol or Rusty had flopped into bed with him and chatting his ear off til he'd fallen asleep. And more than once Rusty had still been chattering when he'd woke up later. Perhaps he was just trying to input all the information subconsiously.

Hyi made Athrun think about the past far too much. It was not putting him in a good place at all. But he couldn't blame Hyi for it, either. That wouldn't be fair in the least. Hyi was just trying to be... friendly, and get to know him.

Considering how close Hyi had gotten during the night, 'friendly' was an understatement. In the morning light, Hyi was handsome when asleep. He certainly didn't look like the merciless enemy mobile suit pilot that he'd found fractured reports about. No, he looked young and harmless and like he needed a friend.

Athrun gently de-snuggled from Hyi and rolled out of bed. His muscles were sore, but not as much as they could have been. He stretched. The hotel would have breakfast, something he'd forgotten that first night when he'd sent Hyi home with leftovers. Hopefully Hyi had eaten all of that, otherwise Athrun figured he could help clean the fridge out. He probably needed to do his own. Especially if Kira was going to stop by and stay at all. The last thing he needed to do was show off an award-worthy mold collection.

"Athrun?" Hyi's voice was soft and sleepy...

"Yeah, I'm here..." Athrun wasn't as well-rested as he would have liked. Probably a combination of the battle yesterday, a strange bed and a strange bedmate. He wouldn't say no to another couple of hours if Hyi suggested it. But first, he needed to draw the curtains at least a bit. It was far too bright for his liking.

"It's early..."

"Isn't that when your should be getting up?" Athrun teased.

"Going to be a night person," Hyi announced before rolling over. And then feeling around for the edge of the bed. He rolled back quickly and opened his eyes. Bright, clear blue staring straight at Athrun. "I took the whole bed!"

Athrun chuckled. "A bit, yes. You were curled right up with me."

"I didn't mean to. I've never, um..."

"Never slept with anyone," Athrun said as he pulled the curtains mostly-closed. There was still enough light to see, but he could sleep through that.

"No," Hyi confirmed. "There are a lot of things that I've never done. It's going to be so complicated when..."

"Hey, don't worry about that stuff yet," Athrun told him as he sat back down on the bed. His back protested a bit, but the rest of his body thanked him as he settled, adjusted the pillows and settled again. "I hope you're good with going back to sleep."

"Yeah..."

"Good. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll still have time to cruise all over the runways, too," Athrun said as he closed his eyes.

"What if I need more than a few hours of help?" Hyi asked softly.

"You'll be fine," Athrun told him. Hyi fidgeted beside him for a moment before settling down.

And Athrun was right back out like a light.


	5. Chapter 5

As Athrun had expected, Hyi had no trouble with driving. He was a bit awkward at first, but it seemed to come naturally and between his memories, even if they weren't his, and his ability with a mobile suit, a car was well within his grasp.

Which left them zipping back and forth a few times anyway, until Athrun caught a glimpse of a matched pair of spectators over near where the hangars with Justice and the Socius Astrays. And Gale Strike, of course.

"Let's head back," Athrun said. Hyi had the radio up. Today was heavier, with a bit of a techno beat. Good for driving, Athrun supposed.

Hyi nodded, and Athrun leaned back. It was weird to be a passenger in his own vehicle, but Hyi hadn't given him anything to worry about. He pulled perfectly into Athrun's parking spot.

Before Athrun made it out of the car, they were both over to him.

"Athrun!"

Athrun nearly fell back against the car from the force of Kira's hug. It felt good, and Athrun hugged him back, not at all concerned that he was clinging a bit. Kira needed to visit more often. Talking about him so much the night before had brought that ache right back to the surface.

"Good to see you, Kira," Athrun said. Neither one of them had let go yet. "Lacus is well?"

"Yeah, she wanted to come but she's so busy now," Kira replied.

Kira's partner coughed and Athrun looked over. Cagalli was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood up, and sunglasses. As if she looked anything like herself in that get-up. But if it let her move around easier, so be it. It definitely signaled that she didn't want to be bothered.

"Cagalli..."

He followed Cagalli's gaze over to Hyi, who had gotten out of the car and was standing there awkwardly, staring at the group.

"Ah..." Athrun pulled away from Kira and gestured to Hyi. "This is Hyi. He's a friend of Erica's that I've been working with."

"Yeah, that I know," Cagalli said flatly.

"And this is Kira Yamato and Cagalli Yula Athha," Athrun continued.

"I've been hearing about you running around in Justice," Cagalli said, looking squarely at Athrun. "Told Kira all about it last night, actually."

"He's who you were with last night?" Kira asked, looking Hyi over carefully.

"Yes," Hyi said firmly. "And it's very nice to meet you both."

Athrun was surprised that Hyi had spoken up. Though he thought he knew. Hyi was jealous, upon seeing them all together in person.

Cagalli smiled, finally. "Yeah... Hey, I want to see your Strike, okay?"

"A Strike?" Kira questioned. "Here?"

"I told you that." Cagalli gave him a strange little look. "You were mostly asleep by then, weren't you?"

"I..."

Cagalli shook her head. "He complained for a few minutes that you were busy, asked me a few things and then fell asleep. You didn't miss anything."

"That's not quite how it happened!" Kira exclaimed. The blush on his face said that it had happened exactly like that. Travel had never done anything good for Athrun either, so...

Athrun chuckled and reached to put a hand on Kira's shoulder. "Hey, we can talk all night tonight if you want."

"Do you have anything planned for the afternoon?" Kira questioned. "I want to show you the stuff I was sent down here with."

"I'm yours," Athrun replied. He looked back to Hyi. "You've got tests to run for Erica?"

"Yeah..." Hyi nodded. "And..."

Luckily Hyi caught the little headshake Athrun gave him.

"And I'll see you later?" Hyi questioned.

"Yes. And ask Erica if she can get you a company car." Athrun thought that would be perfect. Though he'd rather miss driving Hyi around, to be honest. But getting Hyi out of there in the first place was important. Before Kira could start putting pieces together. That Cagalli had told him about the Gale Strike might be a problem already, but until that came to a head, Athrun was going to cross his fingers and hope for the best.

"Eh? Don't you need a ride?" Cagalli looked at Hyi.

"How did you two get here?" Athrun questioned.

Kira gestured at a jeep.

"Go ahead, take my car," Athrun told Hyi. "I'll pick it up later."

Hyi's eyes went wide. But he nodded and got back in, quickly starting it.

Neither sibling said a word til Hyi was halfway back to the main gate.

"You just let him take your car!" Cagalli exclaimed. "You wouldn't ever let me drive it!"

"He was just practicing in it," Athrun told her. "He'll be fine."

"You two seem pretty close," Kira commented. "You sure your overnight was just friendly?"

"At present, he's firmly in the untouchable category," Athrun said. He hoped he wasn't blushing. Because he did not want to be damning himself. "Ignoring some very good personal reasons, he's a guest of Erica."

Kira and Cagalli looked at one another. And then at Athrun. He swallowed hard. That aspect of his relationship - past - with the siblings was always the part that was the most awkward. Especially since he'd known at the time. And hadn't cared...

"I can show you that Strike," Athrun continued, gesturing for the hangar. "There are actually a few guest machines on premises, including a Savior variation that another friend just acquired."

"Savior..." Kira repeated softly. "That one..."

"I need to give him lessons," Athrun said with a chuckle. The past needed to stay in the past. It was their little rule, even though they needed to remind each other of it fairly often. Less so when they weren't in close-proximity, but... "Every time I see him transform it... It's bad. So bad."

"We're not all you," Cagalli commented. She took his hand and practically dragged him into the hangar.

Kira was on their heels. But he stopped short when he actually saw the Gale Strike.

"That's..." he started, but trailed off.

"It's called Gale Strike," Athrun said. "Erica's analyzing data on it at present."

"This belongs to the guy you were with?" Cagalli asked. "Look at those blades!"

"I think it's one of the mobile suits I'm looking for," Kira said quickly.

"And Orb was looking for the Vent Savior," Athrun retorted. "Except its original pilot abandoned it and it was acquired by a mercenary group."

"Is Hyi a mercenary too?" Cagalli questioned. She was circling the feet of the Gale Strike, staring upwards much as Athrun had. And Kira had a certain sparkle in his eyes as he appraised the build and weapons.

"Of a sort," Athrun replied. "He's been hired for testing right now. I'm not sure why Morgenroete is using outside sources, but..." He stared right at Kira. "They've done it before."

"It's nice," Kira commented. "And even if it is the machine, there's no way to prove he was the pilot, huh?"

"That's the best way of looking at it," Athrun told him firmly.

"Gotcha." Kira nodded. "I have a couple others that I might want to ask him about, though. He's good. But if he's..."

"I let him take my car," Athrun interjected. "He's... just a little lost right now. But he's not up to anything. You have my word. There are a handful of others around that I can vouch for as well. It's been busy."

"You know there's a bunch of big annual meetings this week, right?" Cagalli asked him, frowning. "Security is going to be ridiculous."

"I'll warn everyone."

"You'll be my bodyguard." She stared straight at him, and despite her harsh tone, he could hear the underlying need. "Please?"

"I'll help," Kira added. "I mean, I've got a couple of weeks down here and I don't have any idea if I'll even be able to get any information."

"I'll get guest rooms ready for you both," Cagalli said with a smile. And then she turned her attention back to the Gale Strike.

"Lacus wants you to come visit," Kira said softly, sliding close to Athrun. "She'll take care of all the permissions so you can travel freely."

"I don't know," Athrun admitted. "I'll think about it."

He didn't think he'd be able to face Nicol at all, nor any of the others. Not for awhile, at least. And he really couldn't explain why, ever, to anyone, except perhaps Erica or...

"Hello?"

Both Athrun and Kira turned. Despite neither the Vent Savior nor the maimed Zaku being housed in the hanger with the Gale Strike, Elijah and Veia stood in the open doorway. Athrun glanced around again. Murasames. Perhaps Erica was trying to hide the machines for...

Of course. With all of Orb's important political figures in once place, there would be military tours. And with the main hangar doors open, the Murasames would block Gale Strike from easy view. He wondered if Justice had similar cover, and the Socius M1's. Though those were far easier to pass off as Orb machines.

"Hey," Athrun offered them a little wave. "Just giving a little tour."

"We were looking for Hyi," Elijah explained. "I have something he really needs to know about."

"He took my car back to the main building," Athrun said. He frowned. If it was important enough that Elijah was hunting him down, then it couldn't be good. "Try calling Erica?"

"Already did," Veia interjected. "She hadn't seen him yet."

"He should have gotten back there by now." It was Cagalli, who had apparently finished her inspection and was watching Elijah and Veia. "Aforementioned mercenaries?"

"Yeah," Athrun said. "Don't worry about them." Cagalli nodded.

"No problem," she said. "At least I'm familiar with them. Especially with Lady Sahaku coming -- you're her advance guard?"

Elijah shook his head. "She'll have her own attendants, though... yes, we'll be down. All of us."

Athrun swallowed hard and hoped his wince wasn't too obvious. That was probably why Elijah was looking for Hyi. If Gai was going to be around, then things might get awkward for Hyi. Perhaps frustratingly so.

A phone rang and Veia grabbed for his pocket. He wandered out of the hangar for a second and then came back quickly.

"Hyi made it to Erica. I guess he had a little trouble finding a parking spot, but don't worry about your car," Veia announced. "Erica has the keys."

Athrun couldn't help a small laugh, which was half amusement and half relief. "We didn't really go over parking when other cars were around," he admitted. Hopefully Erica already knew what Elijah and Veia did and could warn him.

Cagalli frowned. "I won't stop any of you, unless you're here for me. In which case, you have to go through Athrun."

"And me," Kira said, physically stepping between them for half a second.

"You're fine," Veia said with a handwave. "We're after someone else. But..."

"Understandable," Athrun answered quickly. "Don't worry. Do what you need to."

"But..." Kira started, but Athrun held out a hand.

"They wouldn't tell us that much if they were after a politician," Athrun explained. "Whomever they're hunting needs to be hunted."

"And we should get going," Elijah added.

"We'll get those lessons in another day," Athrun told him. Elijah nodded, and taking Veia's hand rather quickly, they left the hangar.

"Mmm, new guy's cute," Cagalli commented after a moment. "He's..."

"A new guy," Athrun said. Hopefully that would be the end of it. Neither Kira nor Cagalli needed to poke more into Hyi or Veia's past. Especially Hyi's. Veia's could be written off as an erroneous missing persons report or something. Hopefully Kira wouldn't investigate too much. 

~*~

It was there. Of course it was there. It was silly to expect Lady Rondo Mina Sahaku to go anywhere without her mobile suit, the same as it was silly to expect her to go anywhere without her three Socius attendants and their mobile suits. But they didn't bother Athrun - Athrun rather liked them, actually.

And with both Seven and Eleven there as well, confused mechanics were starting to compare notes on sightings of a guy who could apparently be everywhere at once.

But Athrun was back in uniform and wandering around with Cagalli most of the day, every day. The food was better than he'd expected, but everything else was boring. After sneaking away, while Kira took a proper turn, Athrun found himself staring at Lady Sahaku's mobile suit.

The black Astray was referred to as Gold Frame. Amatu. But all that Athrun saw was its grafted right arm. He'd asked Lady Sahaku about it the first time he'd seen it, but she'd simply shook her head and said that it had been added before she'd acquired the machine and the systems had accepted it so completely that she couldn't actually remove it and match an arm to the left while keeping the mobile suit's effectiveness.

For as much as Athrun had been thinking about Nicol, it was a like a shot through his heart to be standing there, staring up at a machine that was so unabashedly using a piece of Blitz. Though it was like a living memorial as well. Blitz was living on.

A stray mechanic wandered over to Athrun.

"How can you just stand there?" he asked softly. "You're not creeped out by it?"

Athrun blinked once. "Huh?"

"It's always watching..." The mechanic shook his head and kept going. "Like it's alive."

Athrun stood there for another few minutes, trying to make eye contact with the machine. He failed. But if, perhaps, there was something, then...

He almost felt a little better about the arm. And everything.

His phone rang. Break time was over. There was boredom to be had. 

~*~

Even his evenings were monopolized by Cagalli and Kira, which Athrun didn't find to be bad except that he was starting to worry. He'd retrieved his car without issue, but he hadn't actually seen Hyi after that. Just dropping by the hotel was easier said than done, especially since a chunk of the hotel blocks were filled with reporters covering the annual meetings. Everything was a mess and even with his clearance, the hassle turned him off.

And despite Cagalli having given them each their own rooms, there hadn't been a night that Kira hadn't spent in Athrun's room, in Athrun's bed. Which Athrun couldn't say anything bad about.

However...

"Athrun?"

Athrun was out on the room's balcony, enjoying the morning air. Perhaps Hyi had managed to become a night person. It sounded kind of nice, but there was still the threat of being awoken by sunbeams straight in the face.

"Mmm?"

"Call for you."

Athrun reached for the phone, expecting possibly Erica or even Hyi. It was Elijah.

"How about those lessons? I wouldn't ask, since I'm sure you're busy, but Reed keeps teasing me..." He was whispering. Likely, he had slipped around a corner to make the call.

Athrun wanted to laugh. He had no idea where Serpent Tail stayed when they were in Orb, which was apparently just what they did. However, he suspected this time around that at least Veia might be holed up with the rest of his family at Lady Sahaku's family residence. Athrun had been there once, a couple of years previous, when Cagalli had been invited. But Athrun didn't even think he could get there without a map and guide. It was large, sprawling, and isolated.

"I have the morning free," Athrun replied. "Meet me in an hour?"

"Thanks."

The phone disconnected, and Athrun wandered back in to see about coffee and proper clothing.

"You have the morning free?" Kira questioned, chuckling. "I guess I'm watching Cagalli."

"I need to do this," Athrun said. "Remember what I said about the Vent Savior? Those lessons?"

"So that wasn't Hyi..."

Athrun shook his head. Either he had been talking about Hyi more than he thought or Kira had picked up on something...

Elijah was waiting for him when he arrived out at the hangars. But he wasn't alone. Veia was there with him, and also Serpent Tail's leader, Gai Murakumo.

While Athrun had never really spoken with Gai, he did know a decent bit about him. Or thought he had, before Hyi filled in some unpleasant details. Gai had saved Cagalli's life once. At least once. His respect for the man was huge.

But if Gai was around, that meant Hyi wouldn't be, almost by default. Athrun could understand it - though he was surprised that Veia was so easy-going with his own small army of clones. But those circumstances were very different.

"Hey," Elijah waved as Athrun headed over. He'd suited up, just in case, in his usual purple and white.

"Hey," he echoed. "We have an audience."

"Yeah..." Elijah gave a little half-wince. "I'm still trying to trade back, but Veia..."

Veia shook his head. "I gave it to you, Elijah."

"Besides," Athrun said quickly. "That machine changing hands is what is keeping it safe from ZAFT. You need to be its pilot, Elijah."

Gai simply caught Athrun's gaze. Athrun nodded. There was really nothing to say to him. Athrun would take good care of Elijah.

"Let me put it through its paces first," Athrun said, heading towards the Vent Savior. It looked so much like the Savior, and yet so different. The colors were striking, and painted up as a Serpent Tail machine, it was nearly as menacing as Gai's Astray Blue Frame.

"Go ahead," Elijah replied.

Even the cockpit felt right. Everything was pretty much the same, which was wonderful. And everything was properly maintained, which meant that it only took a few button-pressed to get the machine in the air. However, it was set to a percentage of its performance specs. Holding the mobile suit steady with one hand, Athrun quickly pulled up the OS and the level settings and changed everything. He saw what had been done, but there was a better way. And there was also the option of working with the pilot until he could handle the insane power the machine was capable of.

If Elijah could stay in Orb long enough, Athrun would teach him. Otherwise, he could reset things to where they'd been. But the thought pained him.

At least what he was doing wasn't hurting the battery at all. He wasn't using any of the weaponry, after all, and wasn't trying to block attacks. He was just flying and reveling in the feel.

A trio of Murasames closed up on him.

"That you, Admiral?"

Athrun recognized the voice of one of the young ladies he'd instructed in the recent past. He knew there were Murasame patrols covering the political meetings and he knew that they knew he was instructing a student and the Vent Savior’s IFF was friendly.

"It is," he replied. "Think you can catch me."

And without waiting for a response, he threw open the throttle and surged forward.

"No, sir," came as the quick reply, though the Murasames rushed after him anyway. The machine performed amazingly, and only when he'd looped around to where they'd started, hoping the trio wouldn't get in any trouble for the assistance and fun, he dipped his wings and dropped back to the runway, transforming quickly and then going through a routine of movements to feel out all the joints and how things were weighted.

He didn't want to get out of the cockpit. Damn, did he miss the Savior. But that was an insult to Justice. Maybe he could see about a building project...

There was silence on the ground when he descended. It was hard to tell expression behind Gai's orange sunglasses, but both Veia and Elijah were smiling.

"That was great," Elijah told him. "I don't know how I'll ever..."

"You'll get it in no time," Athrun interrupted. "And I was just flying. It wasn't combat. I'm not sure how I'd do in it against another machine. Especially not against someone like Eleven."

"But..."

"I've got a headset," Athrun said as he unzipped his pilot suit and pulled it off his arms. "It's a bit difficult to deal with when I'm wearing something without pockets, but we'll do what we can. I'll be right back."

He tied the top of his pilot suit around his waist as he walked back over to his car. He'd borrowed a headset from a groundscrew and had it charged. But it had a bulky antenna and control box to manage different channels, so it wasn't really meant to go along with pilot suits. He grabbed his sunglasses as well. Veia had been wearing his, with bright frames - red.

Elijah was in the cockpit when Athrun returned.

"You up there?" Athrun asked.

"Gotcha," Elijah replied. Athrun adjusted the volume.

"Good. Don't go too far, or you'll get a trio of Murasames tailing you. They're fine, of course, but they're trying to work," Athrun explained. "I think we can cover pretty much everything in this are anyway. At least for today. I can borrow a Murasame tomorrow if I need to."

"Hey... you rewrote..."

"It can go back," Athrun replied. "But I want you to try it as it is. I have a few other changes I can make if it's overwhelming. But it shouldn't be. You have a very powerful machine and need to learn to make use of it. It's worthless otherwise. If you have that sort of power, you need to use it."

Elijah was quiet for a moment, likely strapping himself in. Athrun glanced back and both Gai and Veia had amused little smiles on their faces. Athrun thought about what he'd said and hoped the bright sun was washing out any blush he might have on his face.

"I think I'm ready," Elijah finally said. "You know, I just had to get in this and start flying..."

"Then we're going to start over," Athrun replied. Sometimes it was easy to get in a machine and go. He'd never had any trouble. But he'd been asked to help students, including Coordinators, who didn't have mobile suits come naturally to them. They'd ended up being skilled pilots - same as the ones who could hop into anything and figure it out.

"Well, I can..."

"Move forward," Athrun instructed him. "Slowly. And feel how the weight is different from your Zaku. Everything is balanced differently and you'll need to adjust how far you move and with what purpose you're moving."

There was silence from the cockpit - but also a hand on his arm. Veia's.

"He's..." It was difficult to hear Veia over the headset, which covered his ears entirely.

Athrun let go of the switch that allowed him to broadcast.

"He's going to learn," he told Veia. "And since I'm helping him, he's going to learn my way. I know he's not good with this sort of thing, and this is probably really embarrassing for him. He was probably teased in the academy... I had a friend who was small and not terribly skilled at first. He got better, faster, but... Some things still made him feel awful."

The Vent Savior moved forward, slowly. It moves each arm, each leg, feeling out the weights and how easy it was to move them. Ankles, knees, hips, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, each finger.

"When he gets it, it's going to be amazing," Athrun continued.

He flipped the switch back on. He hadn't turned off Elijah's end, so there was no reason that Elijah shouldn't be coming through except that he wasn't saying anything.

"How are you doing up there?"

"Fine," Elijah replied quickly. "You're right... this does feel different. Instead of tuning it down so I didn't make a mess, I should have... but there wasn't time to do this then."

"I know," Athrun replied. "Don't worry about it. We're doing it right, right now. And I know that you've had a lot of instruction over the years, and been in a lot of battles. It doesn't matter. You're not going to get in and pick up every single mobile suit instantly."

He knew if he was going to borrow a Murasame, he wouldn't have any trouble at all. But he'd worked on the OS in his spare time, too. Not that anyone besides Erica and Kira knew that little fact.

"Can I take off?" Elijah questioned.

"Yes," Athrun told him. He explained exactly how to time the transformation and not to hesitate. The hesitation, along with the strange tuning, were what had been causing all of the jerky movements. "Now go."

Elijah went. Veia was still lingering very close to Athrun, probably worried, while Athrun just shaded his eyes and watched. Much smoother - there was the twist and the transformation, perfect, and Elijah just kept going upwards before looping and shooting across the base. But before he went far enough to attract Murasames, he turned back and came in.

"Landing is the same way?" Elijah questioned.

"You're not landing yet," Athrun told him. "How's the battery doing?"

"It's still above half," Elijah replied.

"Transform back," Athrun instructed him. "But you're going to stay above the runway, maybe a few hundred meters. Feel out all the motions of the mobile suit in the atmosphere. Pull out your beam sabers and make sure you understand how to attack up there. If one of those Murasames was to engage you and transform, you'd be fighting up there."

"Gotcha," Elijah said.

Athrun didn't think Elijah tended to atmospheric battle. As far as he'd heard, he'd either been in space or on land for most of his best stories. So working in the air was going to be difficult and interesting. Of course, fighting against an imaginary enemy wasn't terribly easy either and Athrun tried not to chuckle as he watched Elijah flailing against thin air.

"Good," he managed. "Now you can come in. And then go through the same moving routine before heading back to the hangar."

"That's it?"

"For today, yes. There's no sense in rushing," Athrun told him. "We'll do maintenance, and then get it charged up for tomorrow."

"Understood."

Elijah managed a much better landing than even Athrun expected. He was a good pilot, after all. Just unsure, and in a machine that did outweigh his skill. But skill levels could change. And Athrun would see to it that the Vent Savior and its pilot matched one another.

Athrun flicked the headset back off and looked over past Veia, to Gai.

"Can you tell me who you were trying to draw out?" he asked. Veia made a strange little squeaking noise and eyed Gai as well.

"No," Gai replied. "Good observation, though not unexpected from you, Admiral."

"Mmm, it's too public," Athrun admitted. "And having me do a test run probably frightened them off. Sorry about that. But it did help Elijah out quite a bit."

"Yes." Gai nodded and adjusted his sunglasses. "Perhaps tomorrow we can try again?"

Athrun nodded. He wasn't terribly keen on being part of a plan that he wasn't fully aware of, but there wasn't much he could do about it, either. If it was to keep Orb safe, then it was okay.

Elijah came running from the hangar.

"That was great!" Veia told him. Elijah looked straight at Gai, seemingly aching for approval. Gai just nodded and gave him the barest hint of a smile, which was apparently enough.

Athrun pulled the headset off and tried to play everything off. But there was one thing he wanted to do.

"Veia? Can I talk to you later?"

Veia blinked, looking confused by the request, but ultimately he nodded.

"Good," Athrun said. "It's... actually about ZAFT. So..."

"I understand," Veia said. "Probably some other things, too?"

"Yeah..."

"We can go now..." Veia motioned back to where Gai and Elijah were chatting a few paces away. Mostly Elijah was chatting. And making hand motions.

"I want to walk him through maintenance," Athrun replied with a little headshake. "It's pretty much the same as his Zaku and I'm sure you showed him a few things, but if this machine is going to be his, he's going to have to deal with it. Constantly."

Veia smiled and nodded. "Understood."


	6. Chapter 6

In retrospect, Athrun really should have picked a different restaurant to take Veia to than the friendly family diner that he and Hyi had started to frequent. The curious stares were as polite as they could be, though, and at Athrun's request, they had a nice booth away from most of the other clientele.

They didn't get to the real conversations til after they'd ordered.

"Is this really about ZAFT?" Veia questioned. "Or..."

"Yes and no," Athrun admitted. "You were a favorite of my father."

"Yes," Veia said. "He was a good commander, from what I can remember. However, that changed after I died."

Athrun blinked. How nonchalantly for him to throw that around!

"Well, I can't deny that's what happened..." Veia took a drink of his glass of water. Unlike Hyi, who had ordered pretty much one of everything, Veia had made a small order and promised to order more if he was still hungry. Far healthier, too. But comparing builds, if Hyi was going to be the same size as Gai, he was still growing. Veia, however, was already the same size and weight as the Socius, so he was likely as big as he was going to get.

"I know," Athrun replied. He reached for his own water. "I just wasn't expecting you to say it so bluntly."

"Maybe it's because I can't remember it," Veia said. "Maybe it's because even though I missed a few years and so many things have changed, everything is better. I can see Elijah, and I'm feeling so much better than I ever did. Because..."

"Mmm?"

Veia pulled out his headphones, which Athrun had indeed noticed that he always had with him.

"I'm sick," Veia replied. "Horribly, but not how I was. Before, I'd change and... Before, because of how I'd been made... I was so full of rage, and only beautiful music would soothe me. Like Lacus's songs. I wish she'd still sing."

Athrun was quiet for a long moment. This made most of his current circle of acquaintances into test subjects of some sort. Kira. Cagalli. Hyi. Veia. The Socius. Gai...

Did he have a sign on him? Was there something about himself that he should know?

"I could ask her," Athrun half-mumbled. He could, if he really wanted to. And she wouldn't refuse him. She'd sing...

"No! I..." Veia's eyes went wide. "I mean... that'd be amazing, but it would inconvenience you both..."

"It's something to keep in mind," Athrun said with a little smile. "And you're feeling better, right?"

"Yes," Veia replied. "I've been good for this last little bit."

He took another drink and glanced out the window at the sunset between buildings.

"Elijah told me about the end. About when I died, and what he did... I guess I was going off to Jupiter, to try to live peacefully and never pilot again. I must have gotten so bad..." Veia shook his head. "That's the hardest thing to think of - that I was so sick that I begged him to kill me."

"Veia..."

"He repaired his own GINN with parts from mine so I'd always be with him." A single tear made its way down Veia's cheek and he reached for his napkin. "Sorry..."

"Don't be," Athrun said quickly. He wished he knew what to do. "I mean, this has to be so hard for you."

"Not really," Veia said. "Because it's like I woke up and this awful fog was gone. Sure, I was working for some strange people, but I figured if they'd managed to make me feel that much better, I owed them something. And then I found out the truth and didn't care. If that's what it took, then I'd move forward. I got a second chance, you know."

Athrun nodded.

"And as soon as they said Elijah's name, nothing was going to stop me from seeing him. And being with him. I've just had to take a bit of a roundabout way," Veia continued. "He's gotten to be really strong, you know."

"Yes," Athrun said. He finally took a long swallow of water. "I do know. Between wars, I lived here in Orb and met him, and met all of Serpent Tail. So..."

"Yeah," Veia said softly. "I never really know what to say about them, to be honest. They're the best family that Elijah could ever have. And I know I'll never be a part of it."

"That's not true," Athrun said quickly. He didn't like the frown on Veia's face.

"It is," Veia countered. He didn't seem wholly concerned. But most of his emotions hadn't seemed entirely correct. His circumstances, however, left room for some interesting interpretations of everything. Maybe he was just looking at things differently.

"I'm probably going to join up with Seven and Eleven," Veia continued. "Work with them, helping people and everything."

"Eh? Serpent Tail won't..."

"I wouldn't dream of asking," Veia admitted. "And if Elijah has, he hasn't said anything to me. Some things are better off being separate and considering what I am, I wouldn't expect them to ever wholly trust me, either."

"I trust you," Athrun said just as their food arrived. "And Hyi. Though if anyone else from your former group is around, I need to know."

Veia nodded. Their waitress smiled and sauntered off.

"I don't have any contact with them," Veia said. "Though I'm sure someone is planning something, which is why Serpent Tail is here."

"No way of knowing until it's too late, huh?" Athrun questioned.

"Not unless Elijah slips somewhere," Veia replied. "Gai won't give up anything unless it’s to his benefit."

Athrun nodded and started in on his dinner. Looking at it, and looking at Veia's, perhaps he shouldn't have been so judgmental. His own meal wasn't exactly hearty, but it was tasty and that's what was important. He's skipped out on a rather fancy dinner at Cagalli's residence for this, and while he didn't regret that, he did hope that Kira would grab a few leftovers for him.

Kira. Meant that he wouldn't get to go check on Hyi any time that evening. Hopefully the next day, except he had more Vent Savior training and an afternoon of watching Cagalli try not to be bored while listening to various dignitaries talking about their children and summer homes and investments and everything else.

While his job was sometimes awful and boring, Cagalli had it so much worse. There was no wonder she had taken off to see the world and fought in mobile suits and everything else.

Maybe he could take her out to spar with everyone else. A practice battle might be just what she needed. Of course, she still didn't have a personal mobile suit, unless Erica was holding out on her yet again. But a Murasame wouldn't be beyond her at all. Honestly, with a few tweaks, he didn't think that Strike Freedom would be beyond her. Though he'd never tell either sibling that.

"This is good," Veia said after a minute. "You know, one of the best things about being alive again is eating. And sleeping, and waking up. And just being free after so long."

"I'm not sure Hyi feels that way," Athrun noted. "He's..."

"Jealous, I think," Veia interrupted. "Or lonely. It's hard to invite him to do anything, because Elijah is busy with Gai and... well, that's a whole other thing, too. But let's just say that I'm aware of everything I need to be aware of..."

Athrun nodded and couldn't help a little smile. While he didn't want to comment on that in any way, state or form, at least it wasn't a surprise, which was the important part.

"Anyway," Veia continued. "I know Hyi feels awkward around Gai and doesn't want to show up anywhere that he does, so I don't know what to do. Never mind that ever since he was loaned a car, Hyi hasn't actually been anywhere, but you knew..."

"What?"

"Didn't know that?"

Athrun shook his head and swore under his breath. He'd been so busy with Kira and Cagalli and everything else that he'd trusted Erica to keep checking up on Hyi. Not letting him vanish off on his own. No wonder there hadn't been anyone around the Gale Strike when he'd circled by in the afternoon.

But at least the Gale Strike was still there. Athrun couldn't believe that Hyi would go anywhere too terribly far without it. He was still in Orb, possibly still on Onogoro but he had shown Hyi just how easy it was to hop on the ferry and go sight-seeing. Or go meet someone who...

He didn't want to feel suspicious of Hyi. Not after he'd repeated again and again that he trusted Hyi. But something felt off.

It was apparently going to be a late night. And he might have to borrow that Murasame early.

Athrun wanted to believe in Hyi.

"Athrun?" Veia questioned.

"I'm sure he's just exploring," Athrun said. It was his turn to glance out into the sunset. "Maybe he went back to that town you were in."

"Maybe," Veia replied. He'd nearly finished his meal but was slowing down. Maybe he ate more during the day. "I don't think you should worry about him. He's... well, deep down as much as he doesn't want to admit it, he's like Gai. Especially now that Elijah's had a chance to tell me about Gai. They're so much alike... Well, I guess they'd have to be, huh?"

Athrun couldn't help a little smile. "Yeah... So he's a good guy, deep down?"

"Apparently he was before, too. He just didn't make his break as soon as I did," Veia explained. "But it's all good. You can trust him." 

~*~

He didn't need to wait until morning for Serpent Tail's rumored target to strike. Both his and Kira's phones went off in tandem, jolting both men out of bed and scrambling for the door. They had to get to Cagalli!

"What's the situation?" Athrun yelled into his phone as he ran.

"Two machines," the operator replied. "Unknown, fast, Murasame patrol caught them immediately, however one seems to have vanished and the other is engaged in combat.

"Priority is protecting everyone on the ground," Athrun replied.

"Athrun!" Cagalli came running out of her room in nothing but a short nightgown. "Kira!"

Kira had been getting his own set of instructions.

Athrun snapped his phone shut and pulled Cagalli to him. He and Kira looked at one another for a long moment.

"I think they're the ones I'm after," Kira said. "You protect Cagalli."

"Of course and always," Athrun replied. The nodded to one another and Kira took off running. There were Murasames and Astrays on the ground, too. If there were only two machines, hopefully they'd be safe.

"How embarrassing," Cagalli mumbled. "I hope everyone's evacuating properly."

"I'm sure they are," Athrun said. Activity was beginning to pick up, but without even hearing mobile suits overhead, he didn't rush to get her to her bunker. Wherever the battle was, it had to be far enough out... Or... Serpent Tail had already taken care of things.

That would be the best possible situation.

"Hey..." Cagalli was holding tight to his arm. The lights were still on, which was a good sign. They' would have switched to a far dimmer emergency power if something happened above. "Mmm?"

"Sorry to be so much trouble," she said, leaning against him. "I keep putting you in bad spots."

"It's okay." He reached to pet her hair. They could never go back to how things were, but he still cared for her, deeply.

"Is it?" she questioned. "Are you really happy here?"

"Yes," he said without hesitation. "I don't think I'd be able to do anything if I'd gone back to the PLANTs and here I'm free to teach and take on special projects and basically give myself permission to take day trips to the main island and see Kira, and you..."

"Athrun?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. But I don't know why you're thanking me." He kept her close. Now that they were underground, he couldn't hear any of the sounds that would have indicated a battle. And no one else had come to their specific bunker, which was worrisome. Maybe he'd overreacted.

"For coming to get me," she said. "If you ever want to come live here again..."

"I don't know," Athrun interrupted. "That could get complicated."

He hadn't stopped petting her hair. If he'd had a jacket, he would have offered it to her. But...

"Hold on..." He let go of her for a moment, and stood and rummaged under the long, cushioned bench-seat they'd been sitting on. It took a moment, but he found a blanket. "Here..."

"Thanks..." She unfolded it and waited for him to sit again so she could get it around his shoulders, too. He hadn't thought about being under-dressed, but he supposed he was. Kira was equally under-clothed, but the night was warm and there hadn't been any reason to put on much night clothing once the day clothing had come off and he'd taken a long shower to wash away the miserable sweat he could only attribute to having a flight-suit on for hours more than he should have.

They were quiet for a long moment. Athrun's phone beeped. All clear.

"Cagalli?"

No answer. She'd fallen asleep against him. But it would be more trouble if he just let her sleep.

"Cagalli..." he gave her a little nudge and she blinked, bleary at him.

"Hmm?"

"All clear, we can go back up."

"Stay with me?" she asked him.

"Of course, but... I should talk to Kira, too." Athrun had guesses, but too many of them to lay out at the moment.

"It's a big bed," Cagalli told him. "I want to know what happened too. Especially so I can address it in the morning. But I'm..."

She got to her feet and stole the blanket away to wrap around herself.

"I'm underdressed."

Athrun laughed. "No one expects you to be otherwise at night."

"That's not what I wanted to hear!" Cagalli said with a frown. She stomped towards the door. "And trust me; I know what the soldiers think. I've seen my head posted on calendars in the hangars and I am..."

Athrun just could not help himself. "Flattered?" he suggested.

She hit him in the arm and he pulled her close.

For just a moment longer, the world was only the two of them.

And then, not long after, there were three.

"They got away," Kira said as he flopped down on Cagalli's bed. "Well, one of 'em did. The other one went down in the water and it's too dark to tell what happened to the pilot."

"They were the ones you were looking for?" Cagalli questioned. She reached and took his hand.

"Yeah, I think so," Kira said. "I didn't realize that there were other people fighting them too and sort of made a mess there. I bet you'll hear about that in the morning."

"Serpent Tail?" Athrun asked. He winced when Kira nodded.

"It wasn't on purpose!" Kira sighed. "We each had our orders, I guess. And there were way too many players out there. By the time I got out in Freedom, there was myself, two Serpent Tail machines, three weird OMNI machines with Orb IFFs, a whole squadron Murasames and two M1 Astrays that meant business."

"There are a lot of strangely unconflicting interests here right now," Athrun explained. "Perhaps in the morning we can have a quick meeting and decide how to handle a similar situation if it happens again. Because if there were that many of you, I don't understand how they both got away."

"But one went down..."

"I doubt it," Athrun said. "We've all feinted underwater before. Orb's shallows are perfect for that, especially if the pilot is familiar with the area."

"The other one can turn invisible," Kira added.

"Mirage Colloid is banned," Cagalli replied with a frown. "The only mobile suit with permission to utilize the system is..."

"Gold Frame Amatu," Athrun finished. "And since Gold Frame's companions were out fighting against whatever was out there, it wasn't Gold Frame. So there's a violation of treaties to add to attacking Orb."

"I guess I'll stick around a bit longer," Kira said. He got to his feet and walked around to sit on the edge of the bed before settling properly. "Is this a new bed? I don't remember you having anything this big."

"That's not the sort of question you should ask!" Cagalli started laughing, though. "But yes, it is. It's too big for one person, but good for nights like this."

Athrun resisted the urge to ask the obvious question - would there be more nights like this? He supposed it could happen. Or perhaps she'd found new interests.

As long as she wasn't banking on anything.

And then Athrun realized he was in the middle and scrambled around so that Cagalli was being kept safe between them. She was the one they were there to protect, after all.

Luckily, her room was on the other side of the residence and didn't get the morning sun. Apparently, along with the oversized bed, that had been planned as well.

He wasn't sure that he actually slept, though she fell asleep again quickly. At one point, Kira had grabbed his hand across Cagalli's stomach. And when he realized Athrun was still awake, carefully wrote a message on Athrun's palm like they'd done as children after lights-out. It had worked until they'd been separated.

Athrun didn't hesitate to write back.

'wheres your friend?'

'hyi?'

'yes'

'i dont know'

'what?'

'hes not involved trust me'

'i do trust you not him'

'please believe'

'okay'

'night kira'

'night athrun' 

~*~

There was no need to round up anyone in the morning. Everyone had gathered by the time breakfast was served. At least everyone who needed to be there. Athrun had volunteered his services as a representative of the military, so aside from himself, there was Kira, Cagalli, Lady Sahaku, her three Socius, Gai, Elijah and the rest of Serpent Tail, Veia, and Seven and Eleven.

If nothing else, the group was fluffy.

"So what happened last night?" Cagalli demanded, silencing smaller conversations around the table.

"I'd like to know as well," Lady Sahaku commented. "If that was who I fear it was..."

"It was," Gai told her. He shook his head. "And it looks like both he and his companion escaped. The water was searched already this morning, but there was nothing."

Kira and Cagalli both looked over at Athrun as if that had been a hard call to make. But then again, he'd studied military tactics and actually enlisted, whereas the twins were technically civilians despite their abilities and stations.

"They'll probably be back," Athrun found himself saying. "Though I think I need to know if their targets are Lady Sahaku and Lady Athha or if they're after Vent Savior and Gale Strike."

"Probably both," Gai told him. He drank some of his coffee and waited to see if either Lady Sahaku or Veia was going to say anything. But they both were watching him expectant silence. "They want to clean up the remaining 'mess', I'm guessing."

"I had hoped it would be easier than this," Lady Sahaku said with a little headshake. "But I don't know how to get through to him. He was always the stubborn one."

"If the Princess is in any danger, we'll protect her," Eleven said firmly. "We've heard who one of the enemies is and..."

"Please don't call me that," Cagalli urged.

"Since one of the enemies is one of our own..." Seven continued. "Allow us to take care of him."

Athrun gasped. "The one Hyi told me about?"

Veia nodded. "Probably. They were never particularly friendly. Well, Finis was never particularly friendly with anyone, but he did seem fond of..."

He trailed off and looked across the table to Lady Sahaku, who nodded. "Go ahead," she said. "I don't think this is something to be avoided any longer."

"Ghina," Veia finished.

"My twin brother," Lady Sahaku explained. "Except... a copy. And a copy who did not turn out as well as the gentleman across the table from me."

Athrun saw the quick glance between Kira and Cagalli, but he had to hope that no one else noticed it. He felt nervous when they even sat by one another, just because he'd never be able to unsee the similarity in their features.

"It's not a good situation, I know," she continued. "I'm not sure there's any way to get through to him, either. As much as I would prefer to be able to reason with him and have him again at my side, it doesn't seem to be possible."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Cagalli asked. "Capture him?"

"Or kill him." Lady Sahaku was firm in her declaration. "While I wish no ill against the other copies, Ghina simply isn't meant to be amongst the living. He is not taking it well and is not..."

"I understand." Athrun was surprised by the sound of his own voice. But with as much as he'd been talking to Hyi, and to Veia, he did think he understood. For all that he'd thought about Nicol. And here was a woman he'd once loathed for having Blitz's arm grafted onto her own machine.

"We believed he'd be a threat," Gai said. "However, there was little evidence for it."

"I suppose you'll expect proper payment for last night," Lady Sahaku said. Her voice had a subtle undertone that surprised Athrun. There was a deep history between the two of them that he hadn't really been expecting.

Gai just smiled and sipped his coffee.

"What do we do if this happens again?" Kira asked. "I was merely sent to find out if the mobile suits that were attacking ZAFT bases were still in action." "Only the two," Veia said quickly. "The others are retired or gone."

"I know about the ones here," Kira said. "Athrun has given his word on those."

"If you can all set a schedule or something, I can have the patrol Murasames break away once you've arrived," Athrun said. "And keep squadrons on standby unless something goes horribly wrong."

"It would help," Gai commented. "However, that still leaves room for error."

"There's always room for error," Seven said flatly. "We'll need to work together for this. It might be better to utilize more Murasames and have more patrols."

"That's for Athrun to negotiate," Cagalli interjected. "He can't just wave his hands and..."

"Yes, I can," Athrun corrected. "And so can you. But if we're all just standing around with our guns to the sky, they're not going to be stupid and attack."

"True," Veia said with a soft smile. "And luring them out will also be difficult now that they know just how much firepower is sitting here. They ran quickly last night because they knew they were out-matched."

"Normally, Ghina would never retreat from Blue Frame," Elijah added.

"And normally, Finis would go after those he knew to be..." Veia trailed off, but let his gaze wander to Seven, Eleven, and then Four, Six and Thirteen, the latter trio of whom were all paying close attention but keeping quiet and still, drinking their tea and eating from plates of fruit.

Maybe, Athrun thought, it was a just a trait of the entire genetic line.

"Then what do we do?" Cagalli questioned. "We're nearly done with everything, and most everyone will be heading back to their homes on the mainland. I can't have them stay just in case..."

"They're not the targets," Eleven said. "They're safer if they leave. In fact, that might be the best thing to do. Have them leave, and make it look like we've all left as well."

"How will you sneak back?" Kira questioned.

"Without our mobile suits," Seven said with a growing smile, glancing over at Eleven.

Gai raised an eyebrow at them both. But he said nothing. Either it wasn't a bad plan, or it was terrible and he just wanted to hear it anyway.

Athrun thought the idea had merit, though. He did have a machine on site that belonged on site. So did Hyi, and Kira's was passable for the time being as a diplomatic guest.

"If Lady Sahaku publically goes to her summer home and leaves Gold Frame here, and Serpent Tail heads off to another continent, and we also leave... Then some of us can return via the underwater docks and others can return and borrow machines," Seven explained. Possibly, Athrun thought, they'd come up with this during the night. It was the worst plan he'd ever heard - it might even work - the more he thought on it.

"I'm the bait?" Lady Sahaku questioned with a soft chuckle.

Eleven nodded. "You wouldn't be unprotected."

"I know," she said. "It's an interesting plan. I wonder if my brother would fall for it. He may have lost his mind, but he's not stupid. I doubt he'd not question why everyone was leaving so quickly and leaving so much unprotected."

"Then we'll do it in waves," Seven said. "And we'll go about business as usual, as well. Elijah can have his lessons, and we can all see about doing other, harmless things for a day or two. We can visibly scout around if we need to..."

The meeting, which had started as breakfast, dragged for two more hours until a plan was finalized. Gai and his team helped refine the idea that Eleven and Seven suggested, and everyone left with projects to complete.

Athrun left Cagalli in Kira's care before going to talk to some of the other military commanders about what would be needed of them.

And then, because Hyi was as important to the plan as everyone else, Athrun changed into civilian clothing and headed towards the ferry. He'd put out an all-points, no-need-to-apprehend on Hyi's license plate and was rewarded less than five minutes later with a hit from the tourist town they'd found Veia in.

The drive took far too long without Hyi in the passenger seat, and he wasn't at all happy that Hyi wouldn't be riding back with him. But whatever had happened, at least they'd hopefully be able to talk it out.


	7. Chapter 7

Hyi's car was parked in the exact spot that they'd parked the week before. Athrun parked beside it and got out. He could either stay close and wait for Hyi to return, or he could wander. And wandering sounded good actually as did lunch. For as much food as there had been at breakfast, he hadn't actually eaten much of it. There was too much going on to worry about his stomach.

Now he bought himself a rolled sandwich and some fruit and sat on a bench to eat. When he'd finished, he glanced at a few other stalls, debating earrings for Cagalli and a bracelet for Kira. The second time he circled by, he bought both.

There was still no sign of Hyi. But when he looped back by the public parking lot, Hyi's car was still there, too. Had Hyi abandoned it?

Athrun sighed and turned. He couldn't spend the entire day looking, but he didn't want to head back yet. One more circle of the town's main streets... Maybe he'd get lucky and...

He found himself staring into bright clear blue eyes. Hyi had tanned a bit, but it looked good on him. He was nearly the same color that Kira turned almost instantly when he was on the surface.

"Athrun?"

"Hey... are you okay?" Athrun asked. "You... vanished."

"Needed to think," Hyi admitted. Athrun did nothing to discourage the rib-creaking hug he found himself enveloped in a moment later. "You came to get me?"

"Yeah..." Athrun reached to pet his hair in the same way he did with Cagalli. Reassuring, fond, but...

"Did something happen?"

"Yes," Athrun said as Hyi pulled away. "There was an attack. It's really better if we get back to Onogoro."

"Okay," Hyi said with a nod. "I just need to get my things. I've been staying in a room here. It's so different..."

"I'm sure it is," Athrun said. He couldn't help smiling. This had to be utter culture shock for Hyi, but he seemed to be enjoying it.

"This way," Hyi said, reaching for Athrun's hand. Athrun took it and squeezed without thinking. It felt right. He was so used to touching Kira and being touched, the same with Cagalli. It was natural... And felt good with Hyi, too.

Athrun didn't let go until they were at the rundown little tourist hotel that Hyi had been staying at. Instead of a keycard, Hyi had an actual metal key that he turned in the lock before opening up the door to reveal a tiny, well-lived-in bedroom.

"Nice," Athrun said as he looked around. It was cozy and the decor was far more interesting than the business-sterile of the Morgenroete room. "I wouldn't mind staying here some day."

"We'll come back?" Hyi asked as he gathered up his belongings into a duffel.

"Sure," Athrun agreed. He glanced out the window at the busy street beneath. No short, fuzzy blue hair this time, which was a good sign.

"I've found some good places to eat," Hyi continued. "But I've missed some of the ones on Onogoro. And eventually, I'll learn to cook for myself, once I have a kitchen somewhere."

"Sounds like you're thinking of settling down here," Athrun noted. It wouldn't be a bad thing. He sat down on the bed to watch Hyi, who had apparently bought half of the marketplace and was trying to cram it into his bag.

"Not right here," Hyi said. "But Orb... Maybe... Yes. You're okay with that?"

"Of course," Athrun said. "We'd get to see each other."

Hyi paused, staring at Athrun for a long moment before silently nodding and going back to what he was doing.

"I bought something for you," Hyi said after a long moment. "I think I already packed it, though. I guess I'll give it to you when we get back?"

"That's fine," Athrun told him. They'd have a bit of time. Everything was set to begin the next day, after all. There'd be time. And he'd already told Kira and Cagalli that Cagalli's giant bed was theirs for the night. He figured if he'd found Hyi, then he'd stay in Hyi's hotel room while filling him in on the plan and his role therein. And if not, he'd be out looking...

"I'm sorry I picked a bad time to come think," Hyi said as he tried to smash the sides of his duffel together and get it zipped. "If I'd known, I... guess I would have just tried to stay nearby, but not where he is..."

"Gai doesn't hate you," Athrun said as Hyi finally got the zipper to work. "He..."

"It's still... not comfortable for me."

"I'm sure it isn't," Athrun said as he got up and went over to grab Hyi's duffel away from him. He could carry it as far as the cars. Especially since it looked like Hyi still had his jacket and some other things to carry. And he still had to check out of the hotel and return that little metal room key on an oversized keychain.

"But what's going on right now is bigger than any of us individually. We're just going to have to do what we have to," Athrun told him. Hyi had apparently also bought a few boxes of rocks, judging from the weight of the duffel.

"I know." Hyi grabbed a jacket. And a brightly-colored blanket. And a few other things. Athrun chuckled.

"Use your Morgenroete card for all of that?" he questioned.

"I have some of my own money," Hyi replied. "And... I don't have many things, so I just... got what I liked when I saw it."

"Mmm, let's get back to Onogoro, then you can show me?" Athrun reached for the door.

"What about... oh, we're not driving together at all..."

Athrun shook his head. "We can chat a bit on the ferry, but that's all. How's your driving, anyway?"

"No problems. No one honked at me on the way here, either," Hyi told him. "Maybe one person should have, but it really wasn't my fault. There was a truck and..."

Athrun listened to Hyi up until they were in their cars. Days of having no one to really talk to poured out of Hyi, which just made Athrun chuckle once he was on the road. Hyi was, physically, a good decade or so younger than Gai, but he doubted that Gai had ever been that talkative, even as a teenager.

The drive back to the ferry seemed endless. Athrun watched Hyi in his mirror for most of the trip, making sure he was there and not cut off by any trucks of speedsters.

As soon as they were parked on the ferry, Hyi was out of his car and into Athrun's.

"Are you sure it's okay if you're not with Kira tonight?" Hyi questioned softly.

"Mmm?" Athrun blinked. Hyi had definitely, well, not-entirely but somewhat misunderstood that relationship. "Kira and I are friends, that's all. We've known each other for a long time and are a little more physical with one another."

"Oh..."

"And it's the same with Cagalli, before you ask. I still love her, but it's a kind of love that's not like it was when I'd hoped to marry her. I wouldn't regret spending my life with her as-is, but she and I..."

Hyi was watching him very carefully and curiously.

"That probably doesn't make much sense, does it?" Athrun asked. "I guess... I don't really know how to explain it. We're always going to mean a lot to each other, but neither of us would be comfortable being in an exclusive relationship. For a lot of reasons."

"But a non-exclusive..."

"Sometimes we get lonely." Athrun didn't meet Hyi's gaze. Instead he just looked out at the water as the boat started to move.

Hyi was quiet until they got to the far shore.

Once he was back off the ferry, Athrun went right down his call list - Kira, Cagalli, Veia, Eleven. He was done for the evening. Gai was handling things with Erica in what Athrun thought was the craftiest part of the entire plan. Though apparently she'd be bringing in help. Nothing new there. Athrun assumed that Erica knew everyone who could possibly be drafted to provide assistance. That was just how she was.

He unclipped his headset before he got to the hotel. And without Hyi's keycard, he actually had to pay for parking. He used his Morgenroete card -- it probably wouldn't actually be charged.

Hyi gathered his things from the car and Athrun tried to grab what he could. The blanket was beautiful and soft and he hated to think what Hyi might have paid for it.

"It's a warm night," Hyi noted as they crossed through the lobby.

"Yeah," Athrun replied. "I hope the maid turned up the AC or you'll be roasting tonight."

"I could open the windows," Hyi said as they stepped into the elevator. "I slept the other night with the windows open. First time, I think. Well, definitely, for me, I mean."

Smiling, Athrun wondered if the tall glass windows even opened at all. It had taken some time to get used to sleeping with open windows if only because of the chance of unscheduled rain.

No sooner were they in the room than Hyi was unpacking. He'd bought a handful of shirts and a few other strange things that looked like clothing. And bags of dried fruit, and trinkets and just stuff that seemed strange but Athrun trusted Hyi to put it all to use.

"Your gift is in here somewhere," Hyi said as he dug. "I guess it's the first thing I've ever given anyone.

He paused in his digging with a thoughtful little smile on his face.

"I hope you like it," he said.

"I'm sure I will," Athrun replied. He wandered over to the windows to check. They probably could open, but it didn't look easy. Cranking up the air-conditioning would be easier and he did that instead. Perhaps they'd need that beautiful, multicolor blanket after all.

"Found it!" Hyi was holding up a small bundle wrapped in tissue paper.

"Mmm?" Athrun was a little surprised, if only because he had a very similar bundle in his jacket pocked. Two, actually, though the earrings were also in a little drawstring bag.

"Here..." Hyi got to his feet and walked to over to where Athrun was lingering by the heating and cooling controls. He could feel the air come on and it sent a chill down his spine.

"Thank you," Athrun said softly. He felt both nervous and the peculiar fuzz of wonderful surprise. He opened the tissue bundle carefully and found himself staring at a beautiful bracelet made of wooden beads and coconut pieces, all brightly painted and strung thickly together. Despite everything, it was a very masculine bracelet and Athrun could imagine himself wearing it. Many of the more indigenous soldiers wore similar decorations with their uniforms. Pride in Orb was always encouraged, and as long as jewelry wasn't distracting, it was permitted.

Carefully, he put it around his wrist and admired it. "It's really nice."

"You really like it?" Hyi questioned.

Athrun nodded. He had a choice to make. As much as he had intended the bracelet he'd picked out as a gift for Kira, he could replace it easily from a local shop and Kira would never know. Kira would never know if he didn't get anything at all, or got something else unrelated.

And Hyi was watching him with such a fragile expression that Athrun figured there was only one choice. It would be a white lie. It wouldn't hurt anyone, and really, he should have been thinking of Hyi to begin with. He just hadn't thought...

Hyi had gone to think things through. Now Athrun rather thought he needed to go and do the same thing.

"I have something for you, too," Athrun said with a little smile. "Here..."

Hyi's eyes went wide as he took the tissue bundle from Athrun.

"Really?" he questioned. Athrun nodded. And felt kinda horrible. Hyi and Kira had such similar coloring, thankfully, that it would work well on Hyi. And there were a few orange accents in with the purple and blue of the beads and coconut. Athrun had tried to find one with more of a gold theme, but had failed. Apparently, whoever made the bracelets lacked anything metallic. Which made sense, but was a little frustrating for Athrun when he'd been looking.

Using the same care that Athrun had, Hyi unwrapped the bracelet inside and rewarded Athrun with the widest smile he'd ever seen on the young man. Even though he should have been, he wasn't expecting the full body hug that followed, nor how long it lingered.

"Thank you," Hyi said. "It's just like the one I got you. Though..."

"Mmm?"

"Oh, it's..." Hyi let go and put the bracelet on and went back to his bag. "I actually got one for myself, too, so now I have an extra. It's almost the same colors, too."

Athrun felt infinitely more awkward. He'd made the wrong decision. Totally wrong. If he would have just held on to the bracelet, he'd have one for Kira and Hyi would have been none the wiser.

"You could give it to your friend," Hyi continued. "To Kira."

"Huh?"

Hyi gave him the third bracelet and Athrun turned it over on his hands. Blues, some purple, and just a hint of a gold metal-flake paint around the holes in the coconut shells. It was exactly the bracelet he'd been after for Kira.

"But..." Athrun tried to hand the bracelet back, but Hyi shook his head.

"The colors are better for him," Hyi said. "And... you were so busy looking for me that you probably didn't have anybody else on your mind."

"Thank you," Athrun said as he re-wrapped the bracelet and put it back into his pocket. And then he pulled Hyi to him, holding him close.

"Athrun?"

"Mmm?"

"Thanks." 

~*~

Waking up with Hyi was very different than waking up with Kira, even when the night had been completely innocent. And the night had most definitely been innocent.

However, where Kira lacked any concept of personal space even after waking, Hyi would skitter off to the far side of the bed and apologize.

Mostly, for his part of the plan, Athrun just had to be patient and go about business as usual. Though that did mean an afternoon with Elijah and the evening with Cagalli.

He had twenty-eight text messages from Erica, including a cryptic comment that the cavalry had arrived.

"Want to get breakfast?" Hyi asked as he scrambled to get dressed. "If we wait, all the good stuff will be gone."

Athrun chuckled. He really didn't think he was supposed to be eating the hotel breakfast since he wasn't a registered guest.

"I suppose," Athrun said after a moment. "And..."

"Mmm?" Hyi looked at him strangely.

"Well, it'll be easier to coordinate if I'm not out here with you all the time," Athrun explained.

"You don't want..."

"Let me finish," Athrun interrupted. "My apartment is a two bedroom and I haven't even seen it in a week. It's on base and aside from the occasional Murasame or crew party, it's quiet."

Hyi blinked at him, unsure.

"Do you want to stay with me instead of here?" Athrun had agonized about the question all night. It was definitely something potentially life changing, for both of them, and he didn't want Hyi to feel uncomfortable or take it the wrong way. "You don't have to - it's just an option."

Hyi was quiet for a very long moment. Athrun began to feel sick - he'd apparently asked the wrong question.

"Live with you?"

"Well, in the spare bedroom..." Athrun wasn't entirely sure where the problem was so he didn't know how to spin it. "You'd have your own key and everything - I wouldn't expect you for dinner every night or anything."

"Live with you?" There was a tone shift. Hopefully a good one.

"Yeah..." Athrun nodded.

"Today?"

"Well..." Athrun hadn't quite been expecting that. "If you want, but I'll need to clean a little and there's not really any furniture and I have haro parts all over the one desk..."

"Haro parts?"

"Yeah," Athrun said with a little smile. He knew just what to give Hyi now. And Veia, since he was thinking about it. Hopefully he'd get a chance.

He took a moment to explain exactly what a haro was, before pausing and waiting for confirmation that indeed, Hyi had parsed the original question fully.

"I... You want me to live with you?"

Athrun nodded again. "Just for however long you want to stay around," he added.

Hyi echoed the nod this time.

"And you'd be free to do what you need to," Athrun added. "Normally I just sit behind a desk most of the day. No mobile suits, no excitement. Sometimes I argue with my secretary about what to order for lunch..."

Hyi had a soft smile on his face. Athrun almost didn't want to spoil it.

"We'll have to split the chores," he added. "I don't have a maid."

"That's okay," Hyi said. "I can learn. But... breakfast now? We can... talk more?"

"Of course," Athrun said with a smile. "And before you pack anything up, at least come see where I live. It's not big and it's not particularly fancy, which is what I prefer. The big homes can go to the guys with families and all."

"And then?"

"You pack up and move in," Athrun said. "And I teach Elijah how to fight in his new machine."

"It's really okay?"

"Well, I'm sure there'll be some form to fill out for having a civilian with me," Athrun said after a moment. "But since you're already Erica's guest, it shouldn't be a problem."

He shrugged. He'd deal with it. He wasn't quite sure how he'd tell Cagalli or Kira, though. He knew exactly what they'd say - that this wasn't like him and that he was too much of a loner and what if it didn't work out...

Athrun didn't want to worry about that. He just wanted to give Hyi a chance to do whatever he needed to do. 

~*~

"Hey, I'm going to hang this up here," Athrun said as they got into the car. Careful he undid his bracelet and attached it to the rearview mirror.

"You don't want to wear it?" Hyi asked him, unable to hide a frown.

"It won't work under a pilot suit," Athrun replied. That was only part of it - it also left marks on his skin and rattled in his sleep. But mostly, it just wouldn't work under a tight pilot suit.

"I guess I'll need to put mine somewhere, too," Hyi said. He leaned back for a moment. Once they were out of the parking garage, he started to fiddle with the radio. Today was an electric rock mix.

He didn't live too far from the hotel - nothing was terribly far on Onogoro - and they were at his apartment building in minutes.

"This?" Hyi asked curiously.

"Yeah," Athrun replied. "Told you it wasn't much."

"It's nice," Hyi commented. "Not a huge building." He eyed the brick two-story. It was older, and while Cagalli had once called it charming and been surprised that it had survived everything, Athrun preferred 'older'.

"C'mon," Athrun said as he got out of the car. "See if you like the inside. I'll probably need to clean out the fridge..."

"It's probably fine..."

That, Athrun wasn't so sure of. And again, Athrun found himself comparing Hyi and Gai. Where Gai's approval was silent and implicit, Hyi's was verbal and expressed. Honestly, Athrun wasn't sure which he preferred, but at least with Hyi, he knew where he stood.

The first thing Athrun thought when he unlocked the door was that he needed to open a window. He turned on a couple of lights and waited. Hyi was cautious with his movements, looking at everything. Of course, he'd probably never gotten to live in a place like this before.

Athrun opened the kitchen window and checked the fridge. Oh yes, it very much needed some work.

"Athrun?"

"What's up?"

"Nothing, you're just quiet," Hyi said. No bugs, at least, and nothing had sprung a leak. Athrun was pleased.

"Mmm, you're looking around and I'm making sure that nothing decided to leak," Athrun explained. "I'll show you where the bedrooms are, though. There's even a bit of a hallway."

"Is that strange?" Hyi questioned.

"For most apartments? Yes," Athrun gestured for Hyi to follow him. He felt bad that the place was so boring, but he just... Well, he supposed he hadn't quite ever thoroughly settled in. 

~*~

He took a deep breath before stepping onto the tangle of runways. He didn't just have Elijah today - he had Gai as well, in Blue Frame, sizing him up in Justice.

Blue Frame was an intimidating machine from the tips of its fins to its feet. And Gai's reputation was legendary.

Elijah, on the other hand, was known for his looks, not his skills. Yet he was Serpent Tail's second. So there had to be something...

"Sending coordinates," Athrun broadcast. He'd cleared the area where he'd originally sparred with Hyi in Gale Strike. It was a good spot - both as far as terrain and airspace went. They'd have a good fight. Though if Gai was going to watch, he hadn’t needed to pull out Blue Frame. After all, that hadn't been part of the plan.

But neither had asking Hyi to move in with him. That was... well, it surprised him that he'd even asked Hyi, and that Hyi had accepted. But it was such an obvious thing to do - they got along well, and Hyi still needed a measure of guidance and would for awhile, until he got used to his own existence. And even if Hyi decided not to stay in Orb, well, he'd always have somewhere to come back to.

Cagalli had once told him that, and hugged him, and...

That's probably why he returned. There was nothing for him in the PLANTs but memories, after all.

"Got 'em," Elijah replied. "Gonna try to fly there."

"You're going to fly there," Athrun told him. He had Justice's own flight system to manipulate and without worrying about Elijah, he sped past the grey and teal machine.

Elijah arrived not long after he did, however, and transformed Vent Savior back from its mobile armor mode, hovering in the air for just a second before attacking. Athrun blocked him, smiling. He hadn't even needed to say anything.

"Good," he replied. He wondered just how much fun he could have. Though he knew the rule - no more than five hours of repairs or risk being stuck doing it all himself, from his bank account. But this would be good data... He was recording everything.

"I'm having trouble monitoring altitude and..."

Athrun had to stop himself from hitting the machine in the head with a beam saber. Not out of annoyance, but because Elijah was distracted.

"Don't worry about that and worry about the mobile suit in front of you," Athrun told him firmly. He grabbed old the Vent Savior and threw it. It took Elijah a second too long to react and the mobile suit crashed into the water.

Elijah swore and thrashed about in the shallows before getting himself upright. The Vent Savior was probably fine, but Elijah was flustered now. He got off the ground and lunged at Athrun, but it was easy to have Justice slip to the side and meet Elijah's beam saber with one of its shin beams.

"That's not even..." Elijah started. "I don't know what that is."

"Justice," Athrun said, smiling. "Infinite Justice."

Elijah tried again, but was deflected. However, it wasn't any huge lack of skill with the Vent Savior, just that for the time being, Justice was faster and stronger and Athrun knew the terrain well.

Actually, Athrun thought that Elijah was doing quite well. They stayed out for nearly an hour, before Elijah signaled that his battery was getting perilously low.

"That's good for one day," Athrun said. "Let's go see if Gai's still waiting for you."

"Mmm, he might be," Elijah said. He made transforming Vent Savior look good and Athrun lingered behind him in Justice, just in case he did have any power issues before getting back to the hangar. However, he did not.

Blue Frame was still standing there, intimidating, thought its head cameras adjusted to watch them land.

Athrun realized he hadn't heard so much as a sound from the machine. And...

"Where is Gai, anyway?" Athrun questioned once he descended.

Elijah's eyes went wide.

"How did you know?" His hair was stuck to his head from his helmet and it took a good shake and raking his fingers through it to get it unstuck. Athrun did the same. They probably looked a bit like a matched pair.

Athrun gave him a little smile. Tactics, after all. Though there hadn't been any mention of an additional decoy.

"Gai had to go meet up with someone," Elijah explained. "A Junk Guild ship came in with some friends of ours, but they had to sneak in too."

Athrun frowned. "We need to all be following the same plan..."

"Don't worry," Elijah replied. "Blue Frame isn't just a decoy. Kazahana is working on another little project up there."

Nothing about that made Athrun feel better. He'd initially doubted that everyone could work peacefully together and sure enough, already there changes being made. If Gai hadn't told Eleven about the deviations, then everything was going to go astray.

Athrun didn't think there was any reason to keep complaining to Elijah about things, however. None of it was Elijah's fault; he was merely following his leader's orders. And Elijah was actually to the note anyway.

Pausing before heading to go change, Athrun circled around to peek into the hangar the M1 Astray Socius Customs should have been parked in. They weren't there. Instead, there were Murasames.

"What's going on?" Athrun asked himself under his breath.

Maybe it was time to catch up with Erica and see just what was going on. Because he had the entire Orb military following him at the moment. There was absolutely no room for error.

Luckily, Erica was at her desk, typing frantically at her keyboard. No longer did she feign being a Natural. Not when it mattered, at least.

"Erica?"

"I don't know if I have time, Athrun. There's a lot going on."

"I know," he replied. He hadn't bothered changing. Aside from a couple of very curious women on the elevator, no one had said a word about his pilot suit. And they'd been appreciative, if nothing else.

"Then..."

"I need to know what's going on," Athrun said firmly. "Things have been changed."

"We're a bit ahead of schedule, that's all," Erica replied. "The decoy machines are going together easily, and all the others will be in place by tonight."

"Tonight?" The timeline was three days.

"I sent you messages," Erica said. Athrun reached for his phone. Another couple dozen missed text messages, a call, and then... "What have you been doing, anyway? Your card registered at Hyi's hotel last night."

"Yeah," Athrun replied. "He's going to come live with me. "

Erica stopped typing and stared at him for a long, long moment.

"That was quick." She smiled. "Anyway, our request for one Junk Guild team turned into a whole... well, let's just say there's another group out there who isn't terribly fond of the pair that attacked two nights ago."

"Erica?"

Athrun blinked at the woman who'd just wandered into the office behind him. She was beautiful, a bit older, and wore a lab coat over a jump suit that wasn't buttoned one button above her waist. But it didn't exactly look bad, either. Just... wow.

"Hi, Athrun," she said with a little smile. It took him a second, but then he remembered her. She was with the Junk Guild. And was Erica's best friend.

"Trust us, Athrun," Erica said.

"Fine," Athrun replied. He settled in the hall to sit and read all of the texts. Sure enough, everything was speeding up and he'd been informed properly. And Eleven knew, and Serpent Tail knew... Athrun quickly typed out a few messages to the various commands and patrol platoons. No huge changes for them.

He was not in a good mood when by the time he wandered into Cagalli's residence for his shift at her side.

She made the mistake of asking about his day. He made the mistake of telling her. They both ended up lying on her bed, wondering how things would end this time.

"You said something about that guy..."

"Hyi."

"Yeah, Hyi... He was up..."

Athrun told her the city name, and talked a bit about the town.

"Ah... I haven't been there in ages. It's always such a mess to travel now. Unless you want to be my bodyguard?" Cagalli gave him a bit of a pleading look. Gone was the wild desert warrior he'd heard tales of. Instead, despite her cravings for adventure and running around fighting the bad guys, she was stuck in an invisible cage.

"Whenever you'd like," he told her. "Might have a tag-a-long, though."

"Hyi?"

"Hyi. I hope he's settled in okay..."

"Mmm?"

Athrun figured that sooner was better than later to tell her. It wasn't really her business anyway, except that it was. If she was too strongly opposed, then... he wasn't sure what he'd do.

"Hyi's going to stay with me for awhile," Athrun said. "Just til he gets on his feet here."

Golden eyes were staring right into his a second later. She'd flipped on top of him and had him pinned down with both arms and legs.

"You asked him to move in?" she questioned. "Are you two...?"

"Not at all," Athrun interjected. "Don't worry..."

"I'm not worried," Cagalli replied. She didn't budge. "I just want to know. Because if you are..."

"We're not."

"But do you like him?" Cagalli continued questioning. "He's pretty good-looking. Sort of looks like Gai from Serpent Tail, don't you think?"

"He does, yes," Athrun said. "I think they're related, actually. But the situation is a bit like yours and Kira's and it's better not to draw attention to it."

"You didn't answer my question, Athrun Zala."

"That's because I don't have an answer for you, Cagalli Hibiki." It was a cruel response, and one that Cagalli wasn't really expecting. She rolled off to the side and curled away from him.

Athrun just stared at the ceiling for a bit longer.

" I didn't mean it like that," he finally said.

"I know."

"I won't do it again."

"You can if I deserve it. That's who I really am, isn't it?"

"No," Athrun said as he rolled to put his arms around her and hold her close. "You're Cagalli Yula Athha, too. You're always going to be both."

"It made me think about the Socius," Cagalli said softly. "It must be so hard for them..."

Athrun shook his head, even though she couldn't see him. "No... it's not hard for them at all. They are what they are, and that's all. There's no self-discovery for them, no wondering why they exist. They exist for the reason they were created, and they can't change that."

"And all that talk of copies?"

"Is very real," Athrun said. "But please don't think about it. It'll drive you crazy if you do."

"I don't want to think about it," Cagalli replied with a little shiver. Athrun reached back to snag the edge of the blanket and pull it over them both.

Athrun knew he was going to think about it anyway.

He was still holding her in the morning when Kira returned.

He sped the entire way home.

It looked like Hyi had moved in with little trouble, however there were now things in places that Athrun wasn't sure he wanted things. All of the haro parts had been delicately moved over to the kitchen table, and...

Athrun peeked into the spare bedroom -- Hyi's room, only to find it empty. But the car Hyi was using was in the driveway, so...

He hesitated only a moment before pushing his own bedroom door open. Sure enough, Hyi had forgone the futon in his bedroom for Athrun's bed. He was sprawled, with the covers half-pushed-off, and seemingly oblivious to the world.

Not entirely for the first time, a train of improper thoughts and images rushed through Athrun's mind. Hyi had to know what he was doing. He couldn't be quite that naive. He...

Athrun was about to close the door again when those blue eyes fluttered open.

"Athrun?"

"I'm here." He stepped into the room and took off his jacket. He let it hit the floor - the earrings and bracelet were now with their owners, so he had nothing in there to worry about. His phone could break for all he cared.

This was a day off from Elijah, too, who was supposed to be making arrangements for heading back into orbit. Fake plans, but plans. And Hyi... It was a day for Hyi to run some tests for Erica in the afternoon, without Athrun. Athrun... had plans to do paperwork, eventually. His inbox was probably starting to be terrifying.

"Are you okay?" Hyi asked. "I waited..."

"Yeah, I was just really tired, so Cagalli let me stay in one of the rooms there." It wasn't entirely a lie, that.

"You're sure?"

"I'm fine," Athrun said. "I'm sorry I didn't call to let you know that I was going to be late, but I didn't realize until it was far too late to be calling. I figured you'd be sleeping and I know how hard it can be to sleep in a strange place."

Hyi nodded and rubbed his eyes.

Apparently he wasn't going to offer an explanation for why he was in Athrun's bed, and Athrun was refraining from asking. There was too much going on and he was just going to have to relax and trust everyone. Nothing good would happen otherwise - for the time being, everyone was a part of one team and he had to believe in his teammates. And he had to check his phone more often to keep up with them.

"Today I take Gale Strike out and show it to the Representative, right?" Hyi questioned.

"Mm-hmm. And she spent most of last night talking about it. Be careful, or you'll lose it for real," Athrun noted with a chuckle.

"I have to let her fly it?" Hyi frowned and pushed off the blankets, stretching a moment later.

"Only for a bit. It's a two-fold step - perhaps it'll draw out our targets and if not, it might mean they're not after Cagalli at all. Or the Gale Strike. But otherwise, she's a perfect sitting duck..." If it wouldn't be for the well-staged presence of Four, Six and Thirteen just inside adjacent hangars, waiting, Athrun would have vetoed this part of the plan. While Lady Sahaku had very publicly left the end of the meetings to visit her summer home, her attendants weren't with her. Instead, it was Eleven, Seven and Veia. And the small guard of M1 Astrays sent to guard over the property included two hastily re-painted, stripped down custom machines. The extra equipment was being delivered and re-assembled via a fleet of lawn service trucks.

And Athrun wasn't terribly sure how Gold Frame had been moved, except under cover of mirage colloid and by someone who was willing to crawl into that terrible machine.

"Then..."

"Well, she isn't, really," Athrun corrected. "She'll be fine in a Strike."

"But the OS..." Hyi shook his head. "It's..."

"Not a problem. The Vent Savior’s entire operating system was about ninety-five percent identical to what I remember from my Savior. Even the original Strike had a switchover option to run a Natural OS and..." Athrun trailed off. He should have realized sooner that there was one more carbon human running around Orb. One who would have delivered the Strike's OS right along with himself. He shivered. That was best ignored entirely - no need to even suggest it to anyone around Mwu if they didn't think of it first.

"Athrun?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just overthinking. But she'll be fine for a few minutes if she needs to be. She's a good pilot. And she won't let anything happen to your machine. It's been a very long time since anyone managed to shoot her down."

He couldn't help a little smile.

Hyi nodded and finally crawled from the bed. While Athrun had at least showered, he hadn't changed clothing and rather needed to. He was starting to think that he should just pick a closet at Cagalli's and fill it, if this sort of thing was going to keep happening. Though it wouldn't be fair to Hyi to have him move in and then never be around.

Besides, once Kira went back to the PLANTs, Athrun didn't think he'd have as much reason to be visiting.

"Anyway," Athrun said after a moment. "I need to change and get to work. I'll see you in the evening if nothing exciting happens, or..."

"Wait, you're not coming to see me-- Cagalli in the Gale Strike?" Hyi asked.

Shaking his head, Athrun moved over to rummage around in the closet for a clean uniform. He'd probably need to have some dry cleaning done at some point. Maybe his secretary could pick it up, if she was still speaking to him. Then again, maybe she'd just gone on vacation since he wasn't around to make sure she wasn't just sitting there playing virtual solitaire all day.

"I need to actually go do my job for a day or two," Athrun said. Pants, shirt, jacket... Socks and underwear, too, from the dresser. All standard issue. Nothing worse than needing to explain undershort preferences to a supply sergeant. "I don't want to even think about what my desk looks like, but I think if I just sit and deal with it, I'll get through it all. Or bring some of it home, if you don't mind me being a total bore."

"But what am I...?" Hyi started, only to trail off when Athrun started undressing.

"Just be nice to Cagalli, and don't patronize her, and you'll be fine. Treat her as a skilled pilot, not as a princess, and she'll listen to you," Athrun explained. Old clothes off, new clothes on, sort of an art-form, really, though previously it had been from flight suit to uniform and back again.

"I don't know..."

"Erica will be there, too," Athrun interrupted. Maybe he'd been coddling Hyi too much. Hyi needed to get used to doing things on his own. Of course, considering, he probably just needed to learn what all the things were that he could do on his own so that he could get used to them.

"Okay..."

"Good." Dressed, he glanced in his dresser mirror and smoothed some flyaway strands of hair. Hyi was still standing there bleary-eyed.

"You can make coffee," Athrun told him. He gave Hyi a friendly little pat on the shoulder and then headed back towards the door. "Have a good day."

"You too," Hyi said.

The entire distance to his office, he debated if he should have read between the lines more.


	8. Chapter 8 & Epilogue

"Finally!" His secretary eyed him. "You just took off..."

"I was serving as a bodyguard for Cag-- Lady Athha," Athrun said as he walked by her and took the nearly ream-thick pile of printouts that she handed him.

"You also had guests, but I told them that I didn't know if you'd be in today," she continued. "They said they'd check back later."

"Guests?" Athrun frowned. Anyone that he needed to be in touch with knew how to get a hold of him. And he was checking his phone, really!

"Cute girls," she said, slightly disapproving. "Twins, from the looks of it. I'm not even going to ask what you've been up to."

Athrun ignored that, choosing to wonder about the identity of his mystery guests while he let himself into his office and went straight over to open the window.

Then, the ream of messages, along with everything else. He'd survive. Hopefully.

Everyone else had already left for the day when Athrun gave up on his pile of memos. He figured he'd gotten three-quarters of the way through them, which wasn't bad since a couple had required longish phone calls and some of the others had involved digging through files and other activities that took far too long for the solutions.

His mysterious guests didn't return. Perhaps another day.

Hyi was sitting on the sofa, watching television and eating Chinese when Athrun returned. Athrun couldn't help but laugh - there was 'making oneself at home' and actually doing it, and Hyi was definitely not wearing kid gloves as far as marking the place as his home too.

"You're home! I was going to phone..." Hyi smiled and muted the television. "I just got this a few minutes ago and figured I should eat while it’s hot. But I was going to save half for you if you didn't get home, don't worry."

"It looks good," Athrun said as he took off his jacket. He needed to change before eating, just because Chinese food did not come out of uniform pants terribly well, something he knew from experience.

"Everything went well today," Hyi continued. "Though no need for everyone to have been on standby -- the skies were clear except for Cagalli and the Murasame accompanying her."

"No problems with her control?"

"None," Hyi replied. "You were right. She's... pretty amazing. She just gets out there and does what she has to."

"Yeah, she does..."

"She asked if we were sleeping together."

Athrun froze, thankful Hyi was in the living room and he was in the bedroom, separated by a pair of walls and a short-but-there hallway. Because he turned a unique color of neon red and wanted to just crawl under the floorboards and never be seen again.

He had told Cagalli that the relationship wasn't like that, and for some reason she thought it was appropriate to get a second opinion. Or had wondered if things had changed in a few hours. He'd really have to give her a piece of his mind.

"Athrun?"

"I'm here," Athrun called. He scrambled through changing and then stood there, in the hallway, waiting for Hyi to say something.

"I told her we were just good friends," Hyi said after a moment. "That's... correct, right? I didn't think you'd ask me to stay here if..."

Athrun swallowed hard. "She needs to learn to mind her business," he said as he made his way back through the living room to sit on the floor on the other side of the coffee table that Hyi had spread everything out on. "And I'll get the haros off the table tonight so we can eat there tomorrow. I didn't even think about dinner."

"This is nice," Hyi said with a little headshake as he slid off the sofa and settled cross-legged on the floor as well, leaning back against the sofa. "I'm not good with the chopsticks, though. I should be able to use them, but..."

"You could have gotten a fork." Athrun laughed and moved to go get one.

"Wait... I want to learn," Hyi said quickly. "And they gave us chopsticks, so that must be the proper way to eat this stuff. Besides, I figured it'd take longer this way, so I'd still be eating when you got home."

Athrun smiled and grabbed one of the bowls that Hyi had properly scavenged from the kitchen. Everything looked and smelled good, though he was fairly sure that it was the exact same order as they'd made the other evening. Which was rather endearing, really.

Chopsticks weren't difficult for Athrun, and the food was definitely still warm enough that Hyi hadn't gotten it long before he'd arrived home.

They ate in silence for a bit. Hyi reached and turned the television off - Athrun thought he'd been watching the news, but he'd been watching cartoons.

"Athrun?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you want to?"

"Want to what?" Athrun questioned. No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he realized what Hyi was going to say next. He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to have this conversation and certainly not over dinner.

"Sleep together," Hyi said softly. "Well, what Lady Athha meant, not what we've been doing."

"That's...." Athrun really didn't know how to answer, because he didn't know the answer. Not at all. Hyi was a handsome and attractive young man. But he was also infinitely young and struggling through something Athrun really didn't think he could ever fully empathize with. "That's a difficult question."

"Yeah..." Hyi poked at a piece of broccoli in the bottom his bowl and after two failed attempts at picking it up, he just tried to stab it. "I'm not sure how I'd answer if you asked me."

"We can figure it out another time," Athrun said quickly. Hyi stabbed his broccoli. "And be friends for now, until you've had some more time to think about it."

"And you think about it?"

Athrun nodded. They both went back to eating. He tried not to feel awkward and though Hyi seemed to be acting perfectly normal, he was afraid that he'd really messed things up.

However, after an evening of light conversation and Hyi settling to watch more cartoons while Athrun sorted haro parts to his own room and started poking at one again, Hyi didn't even ask before settling into Athrun's bed again.

Perhaps that meant everything was okay. 

~*~

His guests re-arrived the next day. Well, they were waiting for him when he stepped into the outer portion of his office, the part he shared with a couple of other admirals and their secretaries.

He assumed they were there for him the second he saw them - orange-haired twins wearing Junk Guild jumpsuits.

"Hi! You're Athrun, right?" One of them jumped up and nearly bounced right over to him.

"Of course he is," the other one said as she zoomed up behind. "We can go in your office, right?"

"Sure..." Athrun gestured that they could go right ahead. He assumed they were there on some sort of official business, but he wasn't sure.

Once he had the door shut, they both started talking at once before eyeing each other and doing a quick round of rock-paper-scissors to settle who would go first.

"Okay," the one said with a smile.

"You're taking care of our brother, right?" the other one asked.

"Brother?" Athrun questioned. "Huh?"

"ND HE," the first one said. "Who else?" She seemed upset that he hadn't instantly known. But Hyi had never mentioned siblings. He really hadn't mentioned much of anything about the details of the other carbon humans, except for Veia. But he'd... said enough that Athrun wasn't going to ask for more. He'd wait for Hyi to tell him whenever he was ready.

"Hyi," Athrun said firmly. "I'm not going to call him by insulting initials."

The second twin smiled. "Aw, that's good. We got new names too. I'm Iris."

"And I'm Rose," the other one said. "And then there's Daisy and Dahlia and Violet and Marlin."

"Six of you?" Athrun counted. "You're all..."

"Carbon humans," Iris confirmed. "We were all named Lily, originally, but now that's our middle name. So I'm Iris Lily Sevary."

"Are you going to give Hyi a new name? A proper one?"

Athrun shook his head. "That's his choice, not mine." He looked at them again. "You're in the junk guild?"

"Yep," Rose said as she hopped up to sit on Athrun's desk. "We work with Lowe Gear. He says he knows who you are..."

"I know who Lowe is," Athrun confirmed. "He's tried to get me to join up several times, but my place is here."

"We could get you an office on a ship," Iris told him. "You could definitely come with us."

"Thank you, but no." Athrun so didn't understand girls at all. Ever. Not a one of them. But these two were attempting to win the prize.

"Mmm, so ND-Hyi is doing well, huh?" Rose questioned, leaning towards him. He was glad that he hadn't sat.

"He was when I left," Athrun told her. "I believe he's plan-free for the day. Though are you two?"

"Well, we're supposed to be helping Dahlia, Daisy, Violet and Marlin with Veia's new mobile suit," Iris admitted. "But it's not like anyone would notice we're gone, right?"

Rose giggled. Iris giggled. Athrun wondered if they'd be leaving soon. 

~*~

It was the next day that both machines attacked. They had names now - Hail Buster and Mirage Frame.

That wasn't at all part of the plan. Nor was it part of the plan that they'd actually split up to strike. But luckily, everyone was well-prepared. With four Lilies surrounding him, he'd been showing off Infinite Justice after the better part of an hour of insistent pleading. The first blast blew a hole in the runway at the same time a staticy feed started coming in from the patrol Murasames.

"You're pilots, right?" Athrun asked the Lilies. They all nodded.

"Murasames, now - they're all ready to go," he commanded as he rushed to Justice. He'd rather have had a pilot suit, but emergencies often did not allow for luxury.

Each Lily nodded and scrambled. He was out ten seconds later, gazing up at a black machine that was doing its best to blow up hangars. He got one, too - one that Athrun knew was empty - before being knocked sideways by Thirteen Socius's Raider Full Spec.

"Where's the other one?" Athrun called into the open channel. "We've got Hail. Proceeding to assault."

"Lady Sahaku's home," the response came tersely. It sounded like Veia.

"Understood."

"Fuck you!" came a strangely familiar voice over the radio. "Where's the one in the mask?"

The Hail Buster got to its feet and readied its guns again. Athrun rushed forward, blades everywhere. While he was fast, the Hail Buster was fast, too. And before the other Socius or any of the Lilies could jump in, the Gale Strike was there, slicing the ends from the guns. The Hail Buster tossed them away before they could explode, though one of the Lilies was in the line of an explosion and she went sailing.

"Rose!" one of the other ones cried, and rushed over towards her.

"There you are, you bastard," the Hail Buster's pilot sneered. "Ghina told me to find you and slice you to pieces."

"What, too scared to do it himself?" Hyi replied in the most downright determined voice that Athrun had ever heard from him.

With the pilot distracted by Hyi, Athrun kicked again, grabbing and hobbling the machine. Unable to stop itself from falling, it grabbed for Infinite Justice and Gale Strike, but only managed to grab at beams, and lost most of its hands in the process.

"Don't kill him!" Athrun wasn't sure which of the Socius had cried out, but he was sure it wasn't Finis, the one in Hail Buster. It was understandable - Finis was one of their own. But...

"Fine," Hyi replied, reaching down with one of Gale's hands and tearing away the cockpit armor from the struggling machine. There were sparks, and the machine stilled instantly.

Inside, there was a familiar face - definitely a Socius. No wonder Veia was so comfortable around them - he'd already been exposed to one. Though this one was... somewhat non-standard. His long hair was unbound, fluffing around him in a terrible frizz. And his uniform was torn. He lacked a pilot suit for whatever reason.

And he was terrified.

"Get out," Athrun said, turning on the external public address. "Drop any weapons."

It took a moment, but Finis complied perfectly, even taking off his jacket and dropping a pistol before turning to show that he had nothing at his back. Then he paused and pulled a knife from one of his boots. And dropped it.

"Good," Athrun continued. "Stay still until we get you."

Finis actually... nodded.

Four and Six were out of their machines instantly, weapons drawn. They were thorough yet efficient with their pat down of him and once they had him on his stomach on the runway, secure, Athrun opened his own cockpit. With one of the machines and pilots subdued, that left both the other machine and the injured Lily. Though a moment later he saw all four of them together - it was only the Murasame that had been damaged.

"Whichever ones of you can, go after the Mirage Frame," Athrun cried to them. They nodded and three sprinted back to their machines.

"Us, too?" the Socius questioned. Athrun shook his head and gestured to Finis. "Handle him. Hyi and I will go protect your mistress."

They nodded. Finis scowled, but kept quiet.

"Please keep her safe," Four ventured. There were sirens in the distance. All would be well on base.

Athrun looked to Hyi and waved. "Let's go?"

"Let's go," Hyi echoed, turning to go. Though as added insurance, he swung one of his saw blades and lopped Hail Buster's head clear off.

Athrun wished for Elijah's Vent Savior, simply for travel time. Not that Justice was slow by any means, but when he could see beam sabers flashing in the distance, nothing was fast enough. Especially not when people he'd come to care about were the ones under attack.

Athrun was surprised when he saw Mirage Frame. He was expecting a normal Astray with a few added extras, but what he saw was a beast fighting against Blue Frame.

And everyone else standing back, doing nothing but observing.

"Don't interrupt," Veia said quickly. "This has to be settled between them."

"No, it doesn't," Hyi cried, attempting to surge forward. Athrun had Justice hold an arm out to block him.

"No," Athrun said firmly. "Not yet."

"Don't make me fight you," Hyi threatened, changing his posting and backing up a bit, readying a blade.

"You don't want to do that." It was Lady Sahaku. Gold Frame appeared from the air behind him, mirage colloid disengaged. Its energy-draining wings were perched right at Gale Strike's shoulders.

"But..."

"Let them fight," Elijah said softly.

"It's what they need to do." Athrun assumed it was Eleven.

"I can't..." Hyi cried... Athrun thought he might have started to cry.

"Let them fight." Veia this time.

"But if Gai..." Hyi started, starting to move. Lady Sahaku immediately activated her wings and the Gale Strike drooped instantly.

"Gai's going to win," Elijah said, firm this time, as if there was only the one outcome.

"He'd better..." Hyi's voice was nearly obscured by static. "Because I can't ever be him."

There was silence for a long moment, and then Mirage Frame fell, though it wasn't in conjunction with any of Gai's hits. No, it stepped away and staggered and fell forward.

"Sister?"

Lady Sahaku quickly released Hyi and rushed forward in Gold Frame.

"Ghina?" she cried. Mirage Frame's cockpit opened a tall, painfully thin pilot emerged. Blue Frame stilled its great sword, and Lady Sahaku knelt and then jumped down from her own machine to gather Ghina into her arms.

Athrun couldn't hear any of the dialogue, between them, but Ghina slumped in Mina's arms and she held him as he reached up to stroke her hair twice before his hand dropped.

Holding him for a very long moment, she didn't move. Until finally she settled him on the ground and stood.

It was over.

Everyone was out of their machines almost instantly. Gai went to Mina's side, and Athrun found himself staring at Hyi, who was indeed crying.

"What was that?" Athrun asked softly.

"He had augmented his body," Hyi explained. "He needed to carefully maintain it or it would fail, but without the organization, he... had no way to take care of himself. This was his last run at everything and he just... stopped."

Athrun pulled Hyi to him, and held him close, not caring about who was watching. Not that anyone really was. The Lilies and the Socius had gathered around Ghina's body. One had found a sheet somewhere and was covering him carefully. Two of the Lilies were crying.

And then there were more Socius - Four, Six and Thirteen had arrived right at the end of the battle and were disembarking from farther away. They surrounded Mina as quickly as they could and were swept into her arms.

Gai walked away, but not without one last glance at Hyi and Athrun.

Everything was finally over. Gai was alive and well. And Hyi was...

"We should go home," Athrun said. "I can charge your machine from Justice, and... there'll be reports to file, I'm sure."

"You need to let Cagalli and Kira know that they're safe." Hyi added.

Athrun nodded. "And you need to let Erica know you'll be back to work tomorrow, if Cagalli hasn't requisitioned Gale Strike from you."

"You'll need to finish those haros."

"You'll need to finish the Chinese leftovers."

They went home. This wasn't their aftermath any longer. 

~*~

They didn't talk about it that night. But they both crawled into Athrun's bed and after a bit of fumbling and apologizing, Hyi curled close against Athrun and Athrun held him and stroked his hair.

Everything was over. Hyi was free. 

~*~

"Athrun?"

"Mmmph?" Athrun opened his eyes, no longer surprised to find himself looking into Hyi's clear blue ones. It had become standard. Despite Hyi having his own bedroom and bed, Athrun didn't think that Hyi had ever actually slept in there.

"I need to go do something," Hyi said softly. "I'm sorry."

"Okay," Athrun replied. "You'll be home for dinner?"

Hyi shook his head. "No... I... I don't know how long it'll take."

Athrun sat up, immediately concerned. Hyi had even been talking about painting Morgenroete's insignia onto Gale Strike and becoming an official test pilot. But now...

"Can I go with you?" Athrun asked. "Do you need help with something?"

"No, I have to do it alone," Hyi said with a little headshake. Athrun hadn't realized at first, but Hyi was already dressed and there was a duffel sitting at the end of the bed. Whatever he was up to, he had it planned out in advance.

And Athrun knew that if it was this important, then Hyi had to go do it. Alone.

"Come back," Athrun told him.

Hyi nodded and leaned and...

Yet Athrun was surprised when Hyi finally kissed him. It was awkward and not entirely on the lips and Hyi lingered longer than he should have. Which made it harder for Athrun to pull him back and give him a little more instruction. Holding Hyi close, he licked Hyi's lips carefully, before sucking on Hyi's lower lip for just a second. And then, when he heard Hyi gasp, he pressed Hyi's lips apart with his tongue.

By the time Athrun let go, it was Hyi clinging to him, eyes-wide and obviously out of breath. That would have to be instruction for next time, Athrun supposed. Except the next time was right then.

Hyi pushed him back on the bed, still more enthusiastic than skilled. Either his memories were failing or the master mercenary wasn't very experienced as a teenager. Athrun couldn't help a hint of amusement at that thought. But that cost him his mouth for a few seconds, not that he minded.

Finally, Hyi pulled back a bit. "I..."

"You..."

"I didn't mean..."

"It's..."

"Should have done that sooner?"

Athrun nodded. If that was what Hyi wanted, then yes, Hyi should have done it sooner. But they hadn't had the conversation again and despite a bit of temptation when Hyi would do things like wander around in a towel or change clothing without modesty, Athrun had firmly swore to himself that he would wait for Hyi to make a move, if he was interested.

Cagalli hadn't minded his occasional frustrations, after all.

"We'll keep going when I get back?" Hyi questioned.

Athrun nodded. He was rather ready to keep going, to be honest, and if Hyi really was leaving right then, he'd relieve himself before going back to sleep.

"I'll be back," Hyi said. He grabbed his duffel. And he left. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
 _Epilogue_  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After six months, Athrun stopped cleaning in Hyi's bedroom, allowing the thinnest of layers of dust to form on things like that colorful blanket and some other strange little knickknacks that he'd picked up. He'd taken the haro, Athrun noticed, and he'd taken his bracelet.

Athrun still had his hanging from his rearview mirror, though more than once he'd gotten a little angry and grabbed it off and put it down in the cup holder, vowing to get rid of it and all of Hyi's stuff. Hyi wasn't coming back.

No one had heard from him, and Athrun had gone to consult some of Orb's best information agents. There weren't even any sightings of anyone matching Hyi's description or Gale Strike's. It was like Hyi had vanished completely.

He stopped expecting Hyi to be there when he got home. Stopped wanting. He returned Hyi's car to Morgenroete. He made haros for each of the Lilies, and found out the secret of Marlin's name. He watched Elijah in the Vent Savior fly circles around Veia in his red custom Murasame. Veia had decided to stay in Orb, with Seven and Eleven, for as long as they were calling it home. Lady Sahaku had given them free range of her residence, as long as they tended Ghina's grave. Finis, too, who seemed to break free of any controls on him after Ghina's death. While he remained cocky, he wasn't violent.

The summer had turned to a rainy winter and he was still up to his eyes in paperwork, reading over things that he tried to find interesting and volunteering for training whenever he could. Working with new pilots was the most rewarding thing he could do, after all, and it was fun to push the Murasames as hard as they could go.

One particularly miserable, blustery night that was doing its best to chill him to the bone, he stayed working late. Even the janitors had left by the time he'd finished up. Luckily he'd stashed a fruit pie in his desk or he wouldn't have had dinner. But finally, the entirety of his inbox was in his outbox, a feat that he doubted he would ever achieve again.

He'd been ignoring his phone, of course, which had vibrated so many times that it had skittered clear across his desk and was threatening to teeter into the garbage can. One thing at a time, and with luck it was far too late to even worry about most of the messages. He could deal with them in the morning. Someone would have told him in person if anything too exciting had happened, after all.

The wind and rain kept threatening to push his car across the road and into the wrong lane, and his headlights weren't doing much of anything. Luckily, it was such a miserable night that no one else seemed to be out in it. Half the phone messages were probably weather advisories.

Sitting at a red light, he started going through them. Indeed - monsoon conditions, stay inside, localized flooding, watch underpasses, more localized flooding.

When the light turned green, he had trouble getting traction due to the amount of water on the road. At least he was only a few minutes from home.

The apartment was dark, of course, and he pulled into the lot and sat for a minute, dreading the run to the security door. It looked like the awning had torn in the wind and wasn't offering any cover, which was only fitting. He was going to get utterly soaked.

Tucking his phone into an inside pocket, he figured everything else that had been out in the car could stay in it. He found himself staring at the bracelet, bright and cheery, the exact opposite of the weather.

He let it stay. For one more day, at least.

Soaked, and unhappy, Athrun kicked his shoes off without even getting the lights on. A streetlight outside provided enough light through the kitchen window to allow him to get to the hallway, after all. He pulled off his jacket, soaked, and threw it back towards the living room. He knew should hang it up, but it'd need to go through the dry cleaners anyway at some point soon. It could go with extra bonus wrinkles.

He turned on his bedroom light midway through pulling his shirt off.

"Mmm?"

There, sprawled on his bed, half-dressed, was Hyi, bleary-eyed.

"Hyi?"

"Athrun!" Hyi's expression broke into a wide smile and he scrambled to his feet.

"I'm soaked," Athrun protested as Hyi hugged him. Hyi was distractingly warm against his damp skin, and he let his shirt fall to the floor a second later.

"I was too when I got here," Hyi admitted. "I took a bus as far as I could and then I walked. Erica explained how... She would have dropped me off, but she had to go somewhere for her son and it wasn't really raining then..."

"Someone else could have brought you!" Athrun exclaimed. "You could have come to me..."

"I wanted to surprise you," Hyi admitted with a little headshake. "And I didn't want to trouble anyone else."

Athrun sighed and just held Hyi for a long moment. "I didn't think you were coming back."

"I said I would. I just had to go figure out some things."

"Not here?" Athrun asked. "I thought you were figuring out things here."

Hyi shook his head. "It's done," he said. "I'm not going anywhere."

This time, Athrun kissed him. He kissed him hard, and didn't let go until even he was short of breath. Hyi was so warm against him, and his skin was inviting.

"I..."

Hyi nodded. "Yes," he said.

Athrun still hesitated with removing his pants. He wasn't sure quite how far they'd go, but...

He realized that Hyi was wearing his bracelet. And looking at him with such visible expectation that Athrun wasn't sure what to do.

"We'll take it slow," Athrun said as he finally peeled his pants off. He'd splashed water all up the backs as he'd ran both to and from his car. But his undershorts weren't wet, thankfully, and he left those on as he settled onto the bed and gestured for Hyi to join him.

Hyi didn't hesitate, crawling to lie beside Athrun.

Their mouths met again, longer, less urgent and more curious as Athrun pulled Hyi close and let his hands explore Hyi's exposed skin. It took Hyi a moment to reciprocate, but Athrun couldn't fault him. This was all new to him after all, even if it wasn't. There was still going to be a curve.

Athrun could feel Hyi's erection against him after another couple minutes, and he slipped a hand down between them to stroke it through the fabric of Hyi's pajama bottoms.

Hyi cried out and clung, shaking from just the touch. Athrun couldn't help wondering if this would be over in seconds, not that he minded. He was actually curious if he could make that happen and kept stroking, basking in Hyi's cries and moans.

"Nnn, Athrun ah--"

"Like that?" Athrun asked softly. "Come if you want to."

"But..."

"There's a lot of night left," Athrun told him. And he could call in sick. He never called in sick. He had plenty of sick days, but... he was a Coordinator. Normally Coordinators just used sick days for things like making a handsome young man writhe and scream in pleasure.

"Athrun... ah..."

It didn't take much more for Hyi to cry out and shudder, and Athrun kept stroking even as the material became damp.

And then, while Hyi was still shaking, he rolled Hyi onto his back and helped him get those pajama bottoms off. Carefully, he licked the length of Hyi's partial-erection, cleaning away the bit of seed that hadn't gone onto the fabric or into the faint curls of dark brown hair that surrounded Hyi's cock.

"A-Athrun..."

"Want this to be good for you," Athrun told him. His own erection was nagging at him, but he knew how to behave and he knew how to make someone's first time good.

"Mmm, but you..."

"I can wait," Athrun told him. He sucked at the head of Hyi's cock for a moment and wondered just how much downtime Hyi would need. Likely not much, but enough that he started working his back up Hyi's body, kissing muscle and licking Hyi's nipples and generally making him start shivering again, before he'd ever settled over Hyi to kiss him and rub his own erection against Hyi's.

Hyi gasped and grabbed at Athrun.

"Want to do that for you," he managed, trying to push Athrun's underwear down but not having a terribly lot of luck.

"Go ahead," Athrun told him, rolling to the side and removing his own underwear. There'd be clothing everywhere in the morning. He didn't care.

For a long moment, Hyi just stared at Athrun's erection, hesitating before finally reaching to touch it carefully.

Athrun chuckled. At first he thought Hyi was having doubts, but no, this was just a lack of technique again. He'd seen it before. But he didn't ever really need to see it again.

"Just like you'd touch your own," Athrun told him, which made Hyi blush.

"I..." Hyi traced his fingers over the tip, spreading the clear pre-come over the head. And looked back at up, waiting for some sort of reaction.

"Here," Athrun said, taking Hyi's hand in his own and wrapping it around his erection. He slid it carefully, gasping. "Not too hard..."

Yes, Hyi was blushing now. "I don't know if it'll be good."

"It'll be good," Athrun assured him. He didn't need to come. Just having Hyi back with him was good enough. He couldn't ask for anything more, because he just honestly hadn't thought it would ever happen.

"But..."

"And you'll get hard again," Athrun told him, before pulling him in for a kiss. "And you'll come again and I'll keep making it better for you."

"Athrun..."

"Nnn?"

"Okay..." Hyi's movements were still awkward, but the sensation wasn't bad. Athrun knew he wouldn't come from it, but he wasn't expecting to. Not yet. He'd wait for Hyi to come at least once more. But he'd enjoy the pleasure running through him.

"Nnn..." Yes, it didn't take long for him to feel the hard warmth of Hyi's erection against him again. Gently, he pulled Hyi's hands from him, and kissed Hyi and pushed him onto his back again.

"Do you trust me?" Athrun questioned. He wasn't sure if Hyi would be game for this, but he hoped so. And if not, he had plenty of other ideas.

"Yes," Hyi said. He closed his eyes as Athrun stroked him, tracing from testicles to tip several times before scooting off the bed to grab lube from his dresser.

"Athrun?" Hyi questioned, likely more for the lack of contact than any other reason.

"I'm here," Athrun said as he knelt between Hyi's legs and pushed them apart. "This might feel a little weird at first, but it'll be good."

Bright, clear blue eyes opened wide when Athrun's first slick finger traced around the ring of tight muscle between Hyi's buttocks.

"A-Athrun!"

"Want me to stop?" Athrun would, no questions asked. But he wanted to continue. He wanted to make Hyi cry out again and again.

"No, but..."

"It'll feel good," Athrun told him.

"You...?"

Athrun nodded. If Hyi ever wanted to reciprocate this, too, he was game. Just the thought of Hyi taking him made his cock twitch.

"Okay..."

"Relax," Athrun told him, pressing one finger into him carefully. He was not relaxing at all.

"Feels... weird, Ath..."

"I know. It does at first. But it'll feel good, too. And I'm going to do this..." He leaned down and took Hyi's cock into his mouth, sucking at the precome and using his other hand to stroke Hyi's scrotum.

"Ah!" For a second, Athrun thought Hyi was going to come again. But he managed to hold off, hands digging into the bed and balling the sheets in his fists.

Athrun smiled around Hyi's erection, sucking more and at the same time slipping that finger deeper into Hyi and feeling around for the spot he wanted.

As much as the thought of plunging his cock deep into Hyi appealed to him, this wasn't the night for that, not unless Hyi begged him and even then, he simply wasn't sure that he could make that as good as he'd want. Hyi might be sore just from this, because he wasn't used to it.

Athrun pulled back a bit with his finger, added a bit more lubricant and tried another. That brought a good moan from Hyi and finally, he found the spot he'd been after. Hyi shuddered when he stroked it, one, twice, by the fifth time, Athrun had a hot mouthful of Hyi's come, which he swallowed easily.

No sooner had he flopped beside Hyi, still very aroused but very much needing a moment just from that, Athrun was pounced on. Hyi kissed him, kissed his cheeks and neck and shoulders, and stroked at his erection until finally Athrun stopped him.

"What's wrong?" Hyi questioned.

"Nothing," Athrun replied. "Don't worry. I just need a minute." He kept having ideas. But getting off was starting to rise up his list.

"But you..." Hyi slid his palm the distance of Athrun's erection and Athrun couldn't deny that felt very, very good.

"Hyi--" Athrun wanted to protest when Hyi slipped down to demonstrate that he could be a quick study. Athrun gasped when Hyi licked the length of his shaft before pausing just long enough to make Athrun tense. He closed his eyes and sucked in his breath as Hyi started to suck on him. He hadn't expected-- he just really hadn't expected this from Hyi. Not yet.

Pressure and pleasure welled within him and just before he knew he was going to come, Athrun reached to pull Hyi back.

"But..."

Athrun shook his head, trying to think of the words but failing. He reached to stroke himself roughly, catching one of Hyi's hands in with his own for the last couple of strokes before coming.

Hot... White... Athrun knew he was shaking and murmuring something that hopefully managed to convey just how damned good he felt.

He still felt boneless even when he could breathe without having to kinda think about it. And... Hyi was there, staring at him with unspoken curiosity.

Before Athrun could say anything, Hyi leaned to kiss him.

"I'm not tired," Hyi commented when he pulled back.

Athrun smiled. He had ideas. And they had all night.


End file.
